Key findings from the report include:
1. Finance leaders are prioritising finance efficiency and cost control
Finance teams across all sectors are placing renewed emphasis on efficiency and cost control in 2026. 47% of general corporates cited this as a priority, a goal shared by 46% of financial services firms.
Although cost control is a perennial concern in financial management, sluggish economic growth, rising costs, and geopolitical turmoil have brought it to the fore. Finance leaders are being pushed to do more with less, which also means there is greater interest in adopting advanced technologies; 47% of general corporates and 43% of financial services firms stated they were prioritising the adoption of AI within the coming 18 months.
2. Financial services firms are pulling ahead in finance transformation
In both the financial services (29%) and general corporate (24%) sectors, a leading pack of firms report that their finance function has a high degree of automation and integration across all back-office systems.
Beyond this, there is a stark dichotomy between the financial and non-financial segments. 45% of financial services firms stated they were advanced in their finance transformation efforts, where most finance processes are automated. In comparison, 41% of corporates stated finance transformation efforts were progressing, with partial automation and manual workarounds. This highlights that there are still many quick wins to be realised in the corporate space through simple automation based on bank connectivity.
3. Insufficient budget is a bigger barrier to AI adoption for corporates
Financial services firms are much more likely to have invested in AI for finance operations than general corporates. 46% of financial services firms report having implemented AI enhancements to a high degree, compared to 28% of corporates.
Both financial and non-financial sectors faced common barriers to AI adoption, including a lack of internal expertise and resistance to cultural change. However, corporates were far more likely to cite insufficient budget as an issue with 31% raising this as a barrier, compared to 17% of financial services firms.
“The disparities between the financial and non-financial sectors in terms of their attitudes towards technology investment are striking,” comments Anish Kapoor, CEO of AccessPay. “Longer-term, the underinvestment in general corporates could backfire. In the current macroeconomic environment, finance teams will need to stress-test plans to ensure they can operate at the low end of their scenarios. This is why we predict 2026 will be a key year for automation in payment and treasury operations. If finance departments are to operate with reduced headcount or scale without increasing staff, leaders also need to consider how to make up that shortfall with technology.”
Download the full report to learn more about digital transformation in finance operations and how bank connectivity solutions can help automate payments and bank statement data flows.
