Ahmed Abdelaal, Group CEO of Mashreq, outlines his perspective on how banking will evolve in 2026 as the industry moves beyond digital maturity and focuses on intelligent, sustainable growth.
As 2025 draws to a close, the global banking sector enters 2026 with greater clarity than it has had in years. After navigating prolonged uncertainty, accelerated digital adoption, and evolving regulatory demands, banks are now reaching a phase where technology investments can truly translate into tangible results.
Success in 2026 will not hinge on who digitized first, but on who can transform digital maturity into intelligent growth—driving higher productivity, better risk decisions, and deeper customer trust, all underpinned by strong governance and operational resilience.
A More Stable—But Still Complex—Economic Environment
The global economic outlook is becoming more predictable, though not without risk. International forecasts suggest moderate growth and easing inflation in 2026, giving central banks room for a more balanced policy approach. While this environment supports banking activity, risks remain. Geopolitical tensions, fragmented trade flows, and commodity price volatility continue to pose potential shocks.
For bank leaders, the message is clear: plan for stability, but build systems that can absorb disruption.
In the Middle East, growth prospects remain strong. National diversification strategies and sustained investment across infrastructure, manufacturing, logistics, tourism, and renewable energy are creating demand for corporate lending, transaction banking, advisory services, and cross-border solutions. Banks that combine speed with reliability—and innovation with disciplined risk management—will lead the next phase.
From Transformation to Value Creation
Over the past decade, transformation focused on digitization, infrastructure modernization, and customer journey improvements. In 2026, the emphasis shifts to extracting value from those investments.
Three priorities will define operating success:
Balance sheet discipline:
Banks must reinforce funding stability, sharpen deposit strategies, and deploy capital with a strict focus on risk-adjusted returns. As interest rates normalize, protecting margins will depend on better pricing models, stronger data, and more proactive portfolio management.
Industrialized productivity:
Technology must evolve from isolated initiatives into fully embedded operations. Institutions that automate processes end to end, reduce inefficiencies, and compress cycle times will achieve lasting cost-to-income improvements.
Higher-quality growth:
Growth will increasingly be about precision rather than volume. Sector selectivity, early-warning systems, and proactive remediation will once again become competitive advantages in an uneven global recovery.
The Rise of Intelligent Banking
Digital banking is giving way to intelligent banking. Generative AI and advanced analytics are reshaping credit assessment, compliance, customer service, and personalization.
In 2026, the difference will be execution. Banks that treat AI as a core enterprise capability—supported by strong governance, data quality, model oversight, explainability, and human judgment—will outperform those running isolated pilots.
Intelligence without governance undermines trust. Intelligence with governance creates sustainable growth.
Customer Experience: Seamless, Embedded, and Secure
Customers increasingly expect banking to integrate effortlessly into daily life. Convenience is defined by the absence of friction.
This is accelerating the adoption of biometric authentication, predictive servicing, and intelligent self-service. Behavioral biometrics, in particular, are gaining traction by strengthening fraud detection without disrupting user experience.
At the same time, frictionless banking must be matched with privacy-by-design. Transparent consent, clear data usage policies, and consistent protection across channels are now essential. In 2026, customer experience and customer protection are inseparable.
Resilience and Cybersecurity: Trust Through Operations
Trust is built through experience but safeguarded through controls. Cyber threats, fraud risks, and third-party dependencies are evolving rapidly, while regulators are raising expectations around operational resilience.
Banks must embed resilience into their design—through rigorous stress testing, vendor risk management, defined recovery objectives, and well-rehearsed incident response plans. Institutions that do so will be able to innovate confidently without increasing systemic fragility.
New Infrastructure, New Opportunities
The financial system’s underlying infrastructure is evolving, and banks that leverage these new rails will gain strategic advantage.
Instant payments are reshaping consumer behavior, open banking is moving from theory to execution across the GCC, and digital currencies are edging closer to mainstream adoption. In the UAE, initiatives around real-time payments, open finance, and central bank digital currency development are laying the groundwork for faster settlement, programmability, and cross-border innovation.
These developments enable banks to operate within ecosystems, personalize services at scale, improve SME access, and enhance settlement efficiency—while maintaining regulatory discipline.
Sustainability and Inclusion: From Vision to Measurement
Sustainability has moved beyond messaging and into measurement. Regulators, investors, and customers increasingly demand transparent reporting on climate risk and transition progress.
Across the region, sustainability frameworks are becoming more structured and outcome-driven. Banks must now build the data capabilities required to measure, report, and price climate and transition risks, while directing capital toward projects that support long-term economic resilience and inclusive growth.
Preparing Talent for a Technology-Driven Future
As AI and automation accelerate, talent becomes a defining differentiator. Banks need leaders who understand customer outcomes, engineers who can industrialize platforms, data professionals who can govern complex models, and risk experts who keep human judgment at the center.
Upskilling, strong culture, and ethical leadership will ensure technology amplifies accountability rather than diluting it.
Looking Ahead
The year 2026 will mark a pivotal shift from transformation to intelligent growth. Banks that successfully blend technology with governance, speed with resilience, and innovation with disciplined risk management will set the pace.
Three priorities stand out:
- Industrialize AI with strong governance and measurable productivity gains
- Build on new infrastructure—instant payments, open banking, and digital money—to unlock ecosystem-driven growth
- Reinforce trust through resilience, security, and transparent sustainability reporting
The future of banking will be shaped by intelligence, inclusion, and purposeful investment—and by a continued commitment to the individuals and businesses that rely on financial services every day.
