2026 Holiday IT Wish List - Part 3

For the 2026 edition of the annual Finopotamus “Holiday Tech Wish List” feature, we sat down with forward-looking fintech executives who shared their tech hopes and forecasted market realities for 2026. Due to a significant number of intriguing responses, this year’s Wish List will be presented in five consecutive installments.

Part 3 features insights from Lumio Solutions, WaveCX, Payfinia, Vertice AI, HuLoop Automation and Tyfone.

By W.B. King

Edward Vincent, CEO of Lumio Solutions, wishes for credit unions to focus on building strong data foundations as the groundwork for artificial intelligence (AI).

“With a strong data strategy and a complete, accurate, and organized data foundation in place, AI-powered intelligence equips front-line teams to engage the right member, with the right value proposition, at the right moment,” he told Finopotamus. “Without this foundation AI has limited value, or worse, can yield ill-advised actions.”

The New York City-based Lumio Solutions (formerly SRA Watchtower) delivers risk-informed business intelligence to community financial institutions (CFIs), including 20 credit unions.

Regarding the likelihood of his wish coming to fruition, Vincent said that for credit unions already prioritizing data work, he is hopeful but added it will be challenging for other FIs, depending on resources and competing initiatives.

“As fast as AI is moving, inertia remains the most powerful force in the universe, with disparate systems, siloed data, and vendor sprawl impeding data readiness,” he shared. “Executives must be willing to prioritize foundational data investments ahead of technology that produces immediate, visible outward momentum.”

As he looks past New Year’s Eve, his hope is that credit unions continue “to play the long game” and prioritize strategies that support durable, long-term growth. “Lean into strengths of deep-rooted customer relationships, and pair with precise data-driven, AI-powered intelligence," he shared. "Fintechs are ideal partners to establish the complete, accurate, and organized data foundations needed to yield this AI-powered intelligence.”

WaveCX Founder and CEO Jonathan Tvrdik's wish: for digital banking tools that anticipate, react and change in real time, guiding the user as they go, making it easier to understand what to do next.

“Right now, the benefits of AI and intelligence tools site outside the digital experience. You get a chatbot, a support window, or a help article. You ask a question to a bot…blah, blah,” he said. “But the actual interface just sits there waiting for you to maneuver its complex information architecture.”

The Omaha, Neb.-based WaveCX offers customer experience training, feedback and marketing platform for FIs, including credit unions. “If we're serious about AI and embedded finance, we need to stop layering intelligence around the product and start rebuilding products for intelligence first,” he added.

Noting that his wish “might happen,” Tvrdik said that if it does, it will be “painstakingly” slow. “The technology is here and so are the ideas to bring it to market. The challenge is that most teams still think of AI as a separate tool instead of something that can shape the core experience,” he continued. “There’s also hesitation around making changes to member-facing systems because of compliance and risk concerns. But I think once a few credit unions try it and see that it improves clarity and reduces support volume, others will follow.”

As for 2026 and beyond, he wants credit unions to do what they do best: help members feel informed and supported. “That’s what builds trust and that's at the core of their mission. As more financial products show up in more places, the real advantage will be helping members make sense of it all,” he noted. “Fintechs should focus less on pushing more features and more on helping users understand and act. That means building tools that guide people directly inside the experience, without making them ask for help or jump somewhere else.”

Keith Riddle, general manager at Payfinia, wishes for a seamless, secure integration of AI-enhanced fraud mitigation and device intelligence directly into real-time payment workflows.

As instant payments become more widely adopted, he noted, the industry’s biggest vulnerability is sophisticated, real-time fraud. “Integrating predictive AI models coupled with high-level device intelligence that can evaluate behavioral patterns, contextual signals, and historical activity in milliseconds would enable dynamic risk scoring that protects legitimate, high-value transactions while keeping the member experience frictionless,” Riddle continued. “This level of intelligence is essential for balancing innovation, security, and trust in modern payment experiences.”

The Portland, Ore.-based Payfinia, a Tyfone company, offers Instant Payment Xchange, a secure, comprehensive, scalable, and affordable instant payments and money movement gateway to the FedNow Service. Currently, 25 credit unions are clients.

“There is a strong likelihood of meaningful progress in 2026 as foundational technology is already emerging,” he said regarding the viability of his wish. “Payfinia's Instant Payment Xchange platform already includes embedded fraud controls like dynamic limits and trusted device initiation, as well as the ability to orchestrate payment messaging with external AI/ML frameworks.”

When Finopotamus asked what his hope for the industry is for 2026, Riddle responded: “that the credit union industry will fully embrace digital and embedded payment transformation through strategic partnerships to solidify its position as the premier choice for member-centric financial services,” he continued. “Innovations like FedNow, RTP, and embedded cash-flow solutions such as earned wage access offer meaningful ways to improve members’ daily financial lives, but achieving this requires close collaboration with fintech partners who can supply modern infrastructure, modular digital-payment capabilities, and robust fraud and compliance safeguards.”

Speaking on behalf of the Vertice AI team, CEO and Co-Founder Mitch Rutledge said the collective wish is for credit unions to confidently embrace AI as a driver of both operational efficiency and sustainable growth.

“AI is too often viewed solely as a cost-cutting measure, when its real value lies in empowering teams by enhancing decision-making and providing deeper insight into each member’s full financial relationship,” he shared. “As the industry shifts its focus back to loan growth, credit unions need intelligence that is truly member-centric rather than product-centric. There is a real opportunity in 2026 for AI to become the force multiplier that helps credit unions adapt to their members’ needs in real time and fuel more effective, personalized growth.”

The Athens, Ga.-based fintech provides community banks and credit unions with next-generation cloud-based AI technologies.

“Our vision is achievable, but there are cultural hurdles to address surrounding generative AI,” he said of his wish. “Many credit unions, including larger institutions, continue to limit internal use of generative AI because of concerns related to security, governance, and unknown risks. This hesitation means that the barrier is less about technology readiness and more about education. With clearer guidance, transparent models, and responsible deployment strategies, credit unions can safely integrate AI into operations.”

Looking to next year, Rutledge said the greatest opportunity for the credit union movement will be using AI to enhance its longstanding dedication to member service.

“Modern AI, when implemented responsibly, can strengthen those relationships by giving teams deeper insights into each member’s needs and helping them deliver the right products at the right time,” he continued. “Fintechs can support this shift by acting as partners, educators, and advocates for AI to ensure credit unions fully understand how this technology adds value to their mission. If fintechs and credit unions collaborate in this way, the industry will be positioned for stronger growth, smarter lending, and more personalized service.”

HuLoop Automation’s CEO Todd Michaud spoke on behalf of his 60-member tech team: “Our wish is that AI technology continues to develop and that industry leaders find new, interesting ways to implement AI tools to improve credit union processes.”

“Moreover, we also wish that credit unions and developers make sure to keep the human in the loop while creating AI solutions for the credit union industry,” he told Finopotamus. “Credit unions will be better off implementing AI tools that employees are actually excited to use, and that will meaningfully improve their productivity.”

The Auburn, Calif.-based HuLoop Automation optimizes how humans can leverage cutting-edge AI, Michaud explained. The fintech’s goal, he added, is simplifying and democratizing AI access, especially for non-technical people.

The recent adoption rates of AI-related solutions have created a “snowball effect” of sorts, said Michaud, adding that this gives him more hope that his wish comes true (across the industry). “While there is concern about the supposed AI bubble crashing, we believe this has little bearing on the technology's utility or its place in the credit union industry.”

After a turbulent 2025,he hopes that the economy continues to improve and that more credit unions decide that “now is the time” to invest in AI technology. “We think that, of course, fintechs have a place in providing efficiency-creating tools for financial institutions, but that innovation should not come at the expense of employees,” he continued. “By implementing solutions that enhance workers’ experience, credit unions better equip their employees to tackle routine tasks while giving them the time and freedom to take on more lucrative assignments and deliver a better member experience.”

Tyfone had so many wishes that its CEO and Co-Founder Siva Narendra and SVP of Innovation Mitch Rosenbaum chimed in.

“My top IT wish for 2026 is the emergence of regulatory-compliant, credit-union-native stablecoin infrastructure that allows credit unions and community banks to issue tokenized deposits with full parity to insured deposits,” said Narendra. “This includes the technical rails needed for minting and burning, ledgering, automated liquidity management, and ISO 20022 interoperability.

The GENIUS Act and related regulatory frameworks, he noted, could redefine how money moves, how liquidity is measured, and how smaller institutions participate in real-time financial ecosystems. “Credit unions need a technology stack that makes them equal participants in a stablecoin-enabled future, rather than consumers of big-bank or big-tech infrastructure.”

Based in Portland, Ore., Tyfone is a leading provider of consumer and commercial digital banking services for community FIs, including credit unions.

“My top IT wish for 2026 is a truly intelligent financial wellness layer, powered by conversational AI, micro-agents, and behavioral based guidance,” said Rosenbaum. “Not generic budgeting widgets or retroactive dashboards, but a continuous advisory solution that gives members actionable, personalized guidance across the stages of their financial journey

Financial wellness, he added, cannot be achieved with fragmented tools and partial data. “It requires a unified intelligence layer that understands income flows, obligations, behavior patterns, upcoming life events, and real-time transaction context, then proactively recommends the next right action,” he continued. “This is the future of digital banking, and it is the foundation for Intelligent lifecycle banking.”

To this end, Rosenbaum hopes that in 2026 the credit union industry “redefines financial wellness” from reporting tools to “intelligent, proactive, member-level impact.” Narendra added: “My hope is that credit unions are not left behind in the national stablecoin conversation but instead become early issuers and innovators in tokenized deposits. Credit unions should have a seat at the table as policymakers define the rules of the next generation of money movement.”