In 2026, embedded finance, business-to-business (B2B) payments, artificial intelligence (AI) and digital assets are expected to be defining themes in the Australian fintech landscape. These trends will be driven by advances in technology, evolving regulatory frameworks, and growing demand for integrated, tech-enabled enterprise solutions.

Fintech companies will continue to focus on enterprise partnerships, targeting organizations seeking to differentiate through embedded financial capabilities. At the same time, corporates will increasingly prioritize tighter integration of financial services within their technology stack, prompting accounting software and enterprise resource planning (ERP) providers to enhance their built-in payment and financial functionality.

AI will continue to mature, evolving from isolated tools into orchestrated specific systems that automate workflows and support decision-making at scale. This shift will be accompanied by rapid growth in industry-specific AI models, with domain-specific large language models (LLMs) trained for particular industries, such as banking and insurance.

Top Fintech Trends in Australia

Finally, as digital asset regulation becomes clearer, the sector is poised for renewed momentum, fueled by institutional participation and long-term market confidence. Innovation in tokenization, in particular, is expected to play a central role in the shaping the next phase of this industry.

Embedded finance evolves in Australia

In Australia, embedded finance has moved beyond buy now, pay later (BNPL) and is expanding into many other areas and industries, supported by new technology like open banking, real-time payments, and updated regulatory frameworks.

Many Australian fintech companies are choosing to team up with large enterprises and delivering their services through white-label partnerships rather than promoting their own brands to consumers. At the same time, regulatory pressure on consumer-facing fintech products, including BNPL, is accelerating the shift toward B2B2C partnerships.

Corporates are also prioritizing embedded finance, recognizing the concept as a powerful tool for customer loyalty and engagement. Notable examples include Zip’s partnership with Qantas Loyalty and Zepto’s merchant-embedded payment APIs for retailers and subscription platforms.

In 2026, more fintech companies are expected to move toward B2B partnerships, embedding their infrastructure within sectors like telecommunications, travel, and utilities. The fintech value proposition will become increasingly infrastructure-centric, reducing direct brand visibility but expanding reach and resilience.

As embedded finance space in Australia evolves from a niche offering into a broader competitive field involving banks, infrastructure providers, enterprise platforms, and even telcos, the market will witness more players bundling payments, credit, and identity solutions. This will lead to overlap between fintech companies, banks, and software-as-a-service (SaaS) providers, raising the intensity of B2B infrastructure competition.

Australia’s embedded finance market was estimated at US$11.51 billion in 2025, having grown at an annual rate of 13.4% since 2021. This upward trajectory is expected to continue, with the market forecasted to expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.6% through 2030 to reach US$14.86 billion.

Built-in B2B payments- Australia

In 2026, B2B payments will continue to become more automated and less visible because they get increasingly built directly into business software systems, according to B2B payment specialist TreviPay.

Many major corporations operating in the B2B sector now rely on customer and supplier platforms such as SAP Ariba. These systems match invoices with purchase orders and receipts to ensure accuracy before preparing and approving payments according to agreed terms. When configured appropriately, they can also trigger payment automatically, making payment a seamless part of the workflow rather than a separate step.

In Australia, many large businesses and government enterprises will continue to adopt these platforms to seamlessly deliver on the requirements of the Australian Government’s Payment Times Reporting Scheme (PTRS). They help ensure that differentiated payment terms, particularly for paying small businesses, are being met and that the required reporting is delivered to the regulator in a timely manner.

ERP and accounting software systems are also expanding their built-in payment capabilities. For example, in mid-2025, Sage, an accounting, financial, HR and payroll specialist for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), launched Vendor Payments in partnership with MineralTree, enabling users to pay vendor bills directly from within the Sage Intacct accounting software interface.

Large ERP systems are making similar moves. Oracle Fusion Cloud ERP expanded its embedded payments suite in 2025, partnering with Mastercard to launch a new embedded virtual card payment capability for ERP customers in Australia, as well as with JP Morgan Payments to deliver automated payments, real-time balances and virtual card capabilities.

AI enters new phase in Australia

AI will enter a more mature phase in 2026, with several key developments expected to make a direct impact across Australian industries.

Srini Gutta, Technical Practice Director at Adactin, an Australian IT services and consulting firm, expects multi-agent AI systems, where several specialized models collaborate to complete complex multi-step tasks, to shift from experimentation to mainstream commercial deployment. Enterprises will adopt these systems for process automation, workflow orchestration, and technical support functions, particularly where tasks require reasoning, delegation and iterative problem-solving.

This shift was already visible in 2025. Xero, a leading small business platform, expanded its generative AI (genAI) application Just Ask Xero (JAX) in Q4 2025, evolving it into an AI financial superagent. JAX can now orchestrate multiple agents on the Xero platform, delivering a unified, intelligent accounting experience. This replaces fragmented tools with a single interface that adapts to each business’s operating patterns, automates routine tasks like reconciliations and invoicing under user control, and provides proactive, actionable financial insights by combining business data, connected apps, and web research.

Traditional banks are also deploying AI at scale. The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) has rolled out AI systems across its banking operations, including AI-powered customer service agents and real-time decisioning systems that automate tasks like answering customer queries, monitoring transactions for fraud, and helping expedite loan processes.

As AI tools become more powerful and more widely used, Gutta expects companies will worry less about whether AI works and more about whether it’s safe, compliant, and controllable. In 2026, new governance platforms will be released, giving companies stronger oversight of model behavior, data usage, compliance controls and auditability, he predicts.

At the same time, Gutta anticipates rapid growth in industry-specific AI models, with domain-specific large language models (LLMs) trained for particular industries, such as banking, insurance, law, and healthcare.

In finance, several AI models have already emerged from Australia. These include Kodora’s AI Model for Banking, Finance & Insurance, a purpose-built enterprise AI model designed for regulated financial services organizations, including banks, insurers, and wealth managers.

Another example is RDC, a Sydney-based AI startup which has built a credit assessment engine to help lenders understand their customers’ borrowing needs, and expedite lending requests from small businesses, while also better managing risk.

Digital asset regulation takes shape in Australia

In 2026, the digital asset industry is expected to gain momentum as Australia moves toward a clearer regulatory framework.

In November 2025, the Australian government introduced the Corporations Amendment (Digital Assets Framework) Bill 2025, aimed at unlocking innovation and safeguarding investors. These reforms seek to modernize Australia’s regulatory system, boost confidence, and attract investment into the emerging market.

The Bill establishes clear, enforceable rules for businesses that hold digital assets on behalf of consumers, ensuring they meet the same standards of transparency, integrity and consumer protection that apply across the financial system.

It introduces two new types of financial products, the Digital Asset Platforms (DAPs) and the Tokenised Custody Platforms (TPCs), and requires their operators to hold an Australian Financial Services License and to meet core obligations covering governance and risk controls, dispute resolution and compensation, and disclosure.

Smaller, low‑risk platforms are exempt from licensing if they hold less than AUD 5,000 (US$3,360) per customer and facilitate less than AUD 10 million (US$6.7 million) in transactions per year.

As seen in other jurisdictions, the creation of bespoke digital asset legislation in Australia is expected to support market growth by reducing uncertainty for institutional and retail investors, as well as for industry participants. Over time, this clarity is likely to encourage increased investment across the sector.

According to law firm K&L Gates, the framework will give Australian asset managers better access to invest directly in cryptocurrencies, and greater assurance when dealing with exchanges and custody providers. In addition, the TCP framework will create a clearer pathway for those seeking to issue tokenized funds in Australia, opening up new opportunities for the sector.

Details of the Digital Assets Framework Bill are still being discussed, with the government inviting feedback on the draft legislation before it is passed likely early in 2026.

Featured image: Edited by Fintech News Australia, based on images by EyeEm and mooam via Freepik