Payments industry races toward AI-driven future, but lacks guardrails and confidence, according to new HCLTech report

Source HCLTech

HCLTech, a leading global technology company, today announced the findings of its latest payments industry research. The research underscores a payments industry advancing rapidly toward an AI-enabled, autonomous future, while simultaneously confronting significant challenges related to trust, regulatory preparedness, and the constraints of legacy systems and infrastructure.

The report highlights a paradox: while AI is seen as essential for balancing frictionless customer experiences with fraud protection, organizations lack the governance and infrastructure to deploy it responsibly. Nearly half (49%) operate without formal AI policies, and concerns about hallucinations, synthetic fraud and data leakage are widespread. This is truer for continental Europe, where only 19% of European executives feel fully prepared for the future of payments.

Additional key findings include:

AI is everywhere — but trust is not. While 99% of organizations use AI in payment operations, 91% of executives express concern about its risks, and 60% find current AI fraud detection tools ineffective.

While the future is autonomous, leaders aren’t ready. Over half (52%) of organizations expect to become autonomous within 18–24 months, yet only 17% are fully operating in that mode.

Innovation wins, but modernization is lagging. Over half of executives (52%) are implementing transformation strategies now and 58% prefer adopting innovative methods over refining legacy ones, but just 20% of companies have cloud native, real-time data systems to support innovation.

Customer expectations are driving urgency. 87% of executives fear losing customers without instant payment capabilities.

Europe is cautious and lags in readiness. 12% of continental European executives are skeptical about the long-term value of Agentic AI and 57% would prefer to iterate on an established product rather than try something new.

“Payments leaders are embracing innovation, but the gap between ambition and readiness is stark,” said Srinivasan Seshadri, Chief Growth Officer and Global Head, Financial Services at HCLTech. “This research underscores the need for Responsible AI governance, infrastructure modernization and strategic clarity to thrive in the evolving payments landscape.”