2025 in Review: AI, tokenisation, and the future of finance

2025 will be remembered as a defining year for fintech — not because of a single breakthrough, but because so many emerging technologies finally matured at once. Across AI, tokenisation, instant payments, CBDCs, and stablecoins, the industry shifted decisively from experimentation to execution. What once lived in pilots and proofs of concept is now shaping live systems, regulatory frameworks, and customer expectations.

This year, financial services didn’t just talk about transformation — they delivered it. Banks embedded intelligence into their core operations, payments became faster and more interoperable, and digital assets began to integrate meaningfully with traditional financial infrastructure. Together, these developments point toward a more programmable, connected, and resilient financial ecosystem.

Here are the trends and milestones that defined fintech in 2025 — and why they matter for what comes next.

The next evolution of AI: from generative to agentic

Artificial intelligence dominated fintech headlines throughout 2025, but the narrative evolved significantly. While generative AI captured attention in previous years, 2025 marked the rise of agentic AI — systems capable of autonomously executing tasks, making decisions within defined constraints, and orchestrating workflows across complex environments.

For financial institutions, this shift has been profound. Agentic AI moved beyond chatbots and copilots into mission-critical applications such as lending, transaction monitoring, product design, and core banking integration. Banks began deploying AI not just to assist humans, but to act on their behalf.

Several high-profile implementations illustrated this momentum. Eurobank integrated agentic AI into its mainframe environment through partnerships with Fairfax Digital Services, EY, and Microsoft. Metro Bank applied agentic AI to commercial lending alongside Covecta, while Wells Fargo rolled out a bank-wide agentic AI update with Google Cloud, signalling confidence at enterprise scale.

Technology providers also played a major role. Temenos showcased its AI ambitions at its annual community forum, unveiling tools like its Product Manager Co-Pilot, designed to help banks rapidly design retail banking products using generative AI. Its FCM AI Agent paired transaction monitoring with agentic capabilities, reflecting how compliance and intelligence are increasingly converging.

Leadership changes reinforced this shift. Banks around the world appointed senior executives to drive AI-first strategies, including Lloyds Banking Group naming Aritra Chakravarty as head of agentic AI, Varo Bank appointing Asmau Ahmed as its first AI and data chief, and NatWest hiring Dr Maja Pantic as its inaugural chief AI research officer. These roles signal that AI is no longer an innovation side project — it’s a strategic pillar.

Regulators also kept pace. In the UK, the Financial Conduct Authority launched an AI sandbox in collaboration with Nvidia and introduced a new AI Live Testing service. In Europe, the EU expanded its regulatory framework under the AI Act, supported by the European Digital Innovation Hubs network, which provides hands-on AI testing and training. The message was clear: AI innovation is welcome, but it must be governed responsibly.

Tokenisation moves into the mainstream

If AI redefined intelligence in financial services, tokenisation redefined infrastructure. In 2025, tokenisation matured from a niche blockchain concept into a practical tool for modernising markets, improving liquidity, and expanding access to investment opportunities.

Tokenisation — the conversion of physical and intangible assets into digital tokens — expanded far beyond cryptocurrencies. Real estate, equities, private markets, and even fine art increasingly entered tokenised form, allowing assets to be traded, settled, and managed with greater efficiency and transparency.

Financial institutions embraced tokenisation as a way to unlock fractional ownership, streamline settlement, and enable global accessibility. Venture capital followed closely. Zerohash raised $104 million in a Series D-2 round led by Interactive Brokers, while Fnality secured nearly £100 million in Series C funding backed by institutions including WisdomTree, Bank of America, Citi, and Temasek.

Collaboration emerged as a defining theme. DBS partnered with Kinexys, JP Morgan’s blockchain division, to develop an interoperability framework enabling tokenised deposit transfers across multiple blockchain networks. This initiative aims to connect public and permissioned blockchains, addressing one of the biggest barriers to institutional adoption.

Traditional banks also made tangible progress. Société Générale completed its first US digital bond issuance in partnership with Broadridge Financial Solutions, underscoring that tokenised assets are no longer confined to experimental environments. In 2025, tokenisation crossed a critical threshold: it became credible, scalable, and increasingly institutional.

CBDCs: steady progress, tangible outcomes

Central bank digital currencies continued their steady march from theory to reality in 2025. Governments and monetary authorities accelerated pilots and infrastructure development, driven by the promise of improved payment systems, enhanced financial inclusion, and greater monetary sovereignty.

The European Central Bank remained at the forefront. In October, it selected Almaviva and Fabrick to develop the official digital euro mobile app and its underlying infrastructure. The app is designed to support secure payments in stores, online, and peer-to-peer, while enabling payment service providers to integrate seamlessly into the ecosystem.

The ECB also partnered with Diebold Nixdorf to explore digital euro payment functionality, integrating its Vynamic Transaction Middleware into the ECB’s innovation platform. With more than 70 contributors, the platform aims to simulate the full digital euro ecosystem before broader rollout.

Further innovation came through the ECB’s collaboration with UK-based Fluency, which tested offline and programmable payment capabilities using its Aureum platform. These features enable atomic settlement and real-time interoperability between CBDCs, stablecoins, and tokenised assets — a glimpse into a future where digital money is truly versatile.

Beyond retail use cases, the ECB approved plans to settle distributed ledger–based transactions using central bank money through its Pontes and Appia initiatives. The Pontes pilot, launching in 2026, will support euro-denominated wholesale transactions on DLT platforms, bridging today’s markets with tomorrow’s infrastructure.

Globally, progress continued. Papua New Guinea successfully completed its Digital Kina CBDC trial with Japan’s Soramitsu, demonstrating how CBDCs can strengthen inclusion and modernise payment systems in emerging economies.

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The race to real-time payments

Instant payments became a global priority in 2025, as consumers and businesses increasingly demanded transactions that move at internet speed. Across regions, infrastructure upgrades, regulatory mandates, and cross-border collaboration pushed real-time payments into the mainstream.

In Europe, the Instant Payments Regulation proved transformative. Payment service providers were required to receive instant credit transfers by January and send them by October, including implementation of Verification of Payee schemes. Banks turned to vendors such as LuxHub to meet compliance deadlines, underscoring how regulation can accelerate adoption.

Cross-border interoperability gained momentum through partnerships like the collaboration between the European Payments Initiative and EuroPA. This initiative enabled real-time payments between systems such as Bancomat, Bizum, and SIBS, offering a glimpse of a unified European payments landscape. Revolut’s integration of the Wero payment solution further expanded reach.

Globally, instant payment systems advanced rapidly. Somalia launched its first nationwide instant payment system, Barbados selected Montran to power its national infrastructure, and Uganda upgraded its RTGS system. Singapore established SPaN to oversee national payment systems, reinforcing the importance of governance alongside speed.

Banks and vendors delivered concrete results. BBVA and CaixaBank processed Europe’s first interbank real-time payments, Bpifrance deployed Thought Machine’s Vault Payments for SEPA Instant, and Garanti BBVA Romania connected to its national ACH via Allevo’s instant payments platform. In 2025, instant payments shifted from competitive advantage to baseline expectation.

Stablecoins surge ahead

Stablecoins emerged as one of the most dynamic areas of fintech innovation in 2025. Increasingly viewed as reliable digital cash rather than speculative assets, stablecoins gained traction across payments, remittances, treasury management, and on-chain settlement.

Funding activity reflected this momentum. Stablecore raised $20 million to help banks and credit unions offer stablecoin and tokenised deposit products. Agora secured $50 million to launch its white-label stablecoin platform, enabling enterprises to issue branded stablecoins in days rather than months.

M&A activity accelerated. Ripple acquired Hidden Road to integrate its RLUSD stablecoin into prime brokerage offerings, while MoonPay and the Monad Foundation made strategic acquisitions to streamline stablecoin payments and infrastructure.

Product launches highlighted growing confidence. Fiserv introduced FIUSD on Solana, Klarna debuted KlarnaUSD, and the Bank of North Dakota partnered on a forthcoming state-backed stablecoin. Cards remained a popular on-ramp, with Mastercard, Nuvei, and OKX launching the OKX Card, and Standard Chartered supporting the debut of DeCard.

Regulators responded in parallel. The Bank of England outlined its proposed framework for UK stablecoins, while the FCA signalled stablecoins as a regulatory priority for 2026. In 2025, stablecoins moved closer to the regulated financial core.

Looking ahead

As 2025 comes to a close, fintech stands on firmer ground than ever before. The industry has proven it can innovate at scale, collaborate across borders, and operate within evolving regulatory frameworks. AI has become operational, tokenisation institutional, payments real-time, and digital money tangible.

The groundwork laid this year sets the stage for even greater transformation ahead. The question is no longer whether fintech will reshape finance — but how quickly the next wave will arrive.

Fintech Forward.