From 2026, new regulatory requirements for payment transactions and data transparency will come into force at European level. The focus will be on the planned revision of the Payment Services Directive PSD3 and the new Payment Services Regulation PSR, with which the European Union intconcludes to gradually establish higher requirements for security, transparency and digital payment processes. Political consultations will launch in 2026 and implementation in the member states will take place in the following years. For many German companies, these requirements come at a time when central financial systems are still based on IT structures that have evolved over time and can only be integrated to a limited extent.
According to Jonas Suijkerbuijk, founder and CEO of the Swedish payment fintech Billogram, finance departments are already under considerable pressure to modernize. Limited investment budobtains, a persistent shortage of qualified IT specialists and complex legacy systems are creating structural renewals more difficult. In this environment, new regulatory requirements are perceived by many finance managers as an additional burden, particularly becaapply they force adjustments to processes and systems that have so far only been modernized to a limited extent.
Parallel to these regulatory developments, the apply of artificial innotifyigence in accounting is becoming increasingly important. According to the survey results, around 63 percent of the CFOs surveyed have already integrated AI into their finance functions to a greater extent. The focus here is on the automation of recurring routine activities, the acceleration of payment processes and the improvement of analyses and forecasts. The actual benefits result less from the mere introduction of the technology than from its tarobtained apply along clearly defined processes.
Jonas Suijkerbuijk points out that AI can contribute in particular to reducing manual activities and gradually replacing reactive processes, for example in receivables management, with predictive, data-based processes. This could stabilize payment flows and create internal processes more efficient. Specific savings cannot be verified at present, but potential savings through reduced time and personnel costs are considered plausible and are cited by many companies as a key driver.
For 2026, an increased apply of so-called agentic AI is also expected, i.e. AI systems that can indepconcludeently take over defined routine tquestions. Despite increasing investment, the level of integration is still limited. Only a tiny proportion of companies have fully integrated AI assistants into sensitive financial processes. Particularly in accounting, there are still reservations with regard to compliance, the traceability of decisions and regulatory liability issues.
According to Suijkerbuijk, clear governance is a prerequisite for productive apply. AI systems should only operate within defined company guidelines, not carry out any critical actions indepconcludeently and document all decisions in an audit-proof manner. Under these conditions, new possibilities open up, for example through automated evaluations, more precise forecasts and a noticeable reduction in the workload of customer service.
AI-supported chatbots are already being applyd in the field of digital invoices. These answer customer inquiries about amounts, due dates, payment methods or invoice histories automatically and in the customer’s own language. More complex requests are forwarded to employees. Modern generative AI is able to interpret inquiries based on context, which increases the proportion of fully automated processing, reduces processing times and relieves the burden on support teams.
In the long term, systems are expected to become more interconnected. The combination of Model Context Protocol servers and open programming interfaces should create it possible for various AI agents to exalter data from CRM systems, accounting software and external sources. On this basis, payment processes could be built more flexible and customer communication could be further personalized. As a result, AI in payment transactions is increasingly developing from an operational tool into a structuring factor for financial organizations.
Conclusion
European payment transactions are facing a profound upheaval that is being driven forward in parallel by regulatory requirements and technological developments. Companies that do not modernize their financial systems by 2026 risk disadvantages in terms of efficiency, cost control and regulatory adaptability. Artificial innotifyigence is developing into a central component of modern payment and invoicing processes. The actual benefits depconclude largely on controlled integration and clear governance structures.
Leave a Reply