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Emerging Technologies in Banking and AI - Webinar by The Soltesz Institute


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In this webinar by The Soltesz Institute Viktoria Soltesz was talking with 📈 Dr Stylianos Kampakis, CStat 📊 from The Tesseract Academy to explore how emerging technologies such as AI and blockchain are reshaping the banking and payments industry. 

With more startups entering the market and customer expectations changing faster than ever, the discussion focused on how banking will look in the next few years, what new opportunities are opening up, and why the risks are bigger than most businesses realise.


AI is Here

AI is being implemented across banking operations, whether it’s customer service, fraud detection, compliance, or investment strategy. Stylianos explained that most traditional financial institutions today use AI not for innovation, but simply to cut costs. Customer support is usually the first area affected, where human agents are replaced with chatbots that can handle standard queries. 

Still, there are limitations. AI can help streamline processes and speed up routine tasks, but when something goes wrong, businesses still need someone to take responsibility. A chatbot can't be held liable for onboarding errors, incorrect investment decisions, or security breaches. This raises serious questions about risk and accountability, especially in regulated sectors like payments and banking.


Stablecoins

The growing use of stablecoins in banking and payments is a god sign, but not without caveats. Stylianos pointed out that stablecoins provide a simple solution for fast, low-cost international transfers. They’re already widely used by global businesses and institutions, and adoption is expected to rise sharply within the next few years. While these tools can bypass traditional rails and offer real-time settlement, the infrastructure behind them still raises questions. Stablecoins rely on crypto networks that are not always built for large transaction volumes, and their long-term stability depends on how regulation unfolds.

But the real concern is how easy it has become to mimic regulated banking services through unregulated or lightly regulated crypto setups. Startups today can offer lending, deposits, and payments without needing a banking license. With just a few lines of code and the right partner, anyone can launch a financial product under a white-labeled structure. This brings speed, but also removes responsibility, since the end customer rarely knows who is holding their funds or who is liable when things go wrong.


Traditional banks vs. FinTechs

The conversation also compared traditional banks with the growing wave of FinTech startups. FinTechs are agile and fast, often bypassing traditional infrastructure through embedded finance or lighter licenses. But they also piggyback on the banking sector, depending on correspondent accounts, fiat settlement networks, and trusted financial institutions to operate. Banks, on the other hand, are burdened with the legal and social responsibilities of the financial system, from servicing low-value retail accounts to upholding the regulatory framework that keeps the system stable.

Stylianos argued that most FinTechs are either building toward acquisition or targeting specific inefficiencies that banks struggle to address. 


CBDCs 

The role of Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) was another major theme. While CBDCs could speed up payments and remove intermediaries, Stylianos warned that they come with a dangerous level of centralisation. Governments would gain real-time visibility and control over every transaction, which raises serious concerns about privacy and misuse of power. Unlike crypto, which distributes control across many nodes, CBDCs give full control back to a single authority.


What’s Next 

The webinar ended with a discussion on what to expect in the near future. Stylianos mentioned quantum computing as a possible game-changer, but for now, the biggest shift will come from wider adoption of AI and stablecoins in traditional financial systems. FinTechs will continue to push boundaries, but the real question is whether businesses and regulators can keep up.

 
 
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