2026 begins with major advances for financial and payment ecosystems globally: the lines between traditional banks and fintechs are blurring faster, artificial intelligence is redefining countless processes, and payment infrastructure is becoming more global and real-time thanks to global cards and stablecoins. All of this in a context where the needs of businesses and individuals are rapidly evolving, and where financial products must respond with speed, security, and scale.
Discover the main trends in payments and banking for 2026 below.
The globalization of consumption and the growth of international e-commerce are accelerating the need for financial products designed to operate beyond local borders. In this context, global cards are becoming a new standard in Latin America and the world. They are not just cards that work abroad, but solutions designed from inception to operate in multiple countries, currencies, and user scenarios, complying with regulations and ensuring a seamless experience for businesses and users.
Global cards are increasingly sought as an alternative that offers monetary stability, cost savings on conversion, and unlimited international acceptance. In this context, multiple use cases stand out:
Purchases on global platforms without relying on the local currency.Travel and payments with greater control, using the card abroad without extra charges.Cross-border operations, from payments to suppliers to personal remittances, with traceability and immediate liquidity.Issuing this type of card in the region used to be complex: it required local licenses, multiple integrations, and a difficult-to-scale operational architecture. Today, thanks to our next-gen technology, companies can issue global cards from a single integration and expand their businesses frictionlessly in the region, with multi-country support, resolved licenses, and features like tokenization and dynamic CVV, which enhance user security and experience.
In a recent interview with Bloomberg Línea, our CEO & Co-Founder, Gastón Irigoyen commented on this trend: “We see a strong push for the global card, that is, cards in dollars or stablecoins for international consumption, both in online purchases and in-person transactions during travel. This trend reinforces the idea of value propositions that combine local cards with global cards, and we expect many players to start launching these products, which Pomelo already offers.” Read more insights from Gastón looking towards 2026 in the full article.
While global cards open new doors for borderless spending, stablecoins are changing the way money is moved quickly, securely, and without costly intermediaries. Their adoption is growing in both B2C solutions and corporate products, thanks to their stability against currency volatility, high liquidity, and 24/7 availability. In essence, they combine the stability of traditional money with the agility of blockchain technology.
This past July, the U.S. Congress passed the first federal cryptocurrency legislation, the GENIUS Act, which establishes a regulatory framework for stablecoins backed by assets like the dollar. According to an EY-Parthenon survey, thanks to that regulatory clarity, 54% of companies plan to adopt stablecoins in the next 6 to 12 months. This drives the exploration of hybrid architectures where traditional rails and tokenized systems coexist, enhancing global interoperability without losing security or compliance.
At Pomelo, we understand that stablecoins are no longer a promise of the future but a real and expanding infrastructure capable of supporting payments, settlements, remittances, and even card programs. As our CEO & Co-Founder, Gastón Irigoyen, commented in the report published by Privy, “Stablecoins mark the emergence of a new financial system that will solve inefficiencies inherited from the past.”
The traditional separation between banks and fintechs is increasingly vanishing. By 2026, both players share the need for secure, flexible, and integrated infrastructures that support instant payments, data management, and omnichannel experiences. This movement represents a strategic convergence point where speed to market, resilience, and the ability to innovate are as important as scale and structure. All, of course, while keeping an eye on security.
Traditional banks have realized that their historical providers can no longer match the speed and flexibility demanded by today's users, not to mention the competitiveness they are losing to innovative fintech offerings. This is where differentiation stands out as an aspect that cannot be overlooked by 2026. Previously, uniformity was synonymous with solidity and stability, but fintech value propositions demand breaking away from that to provide personalized experiences for users to retain them.
“The region is entering a stage where technology ceases to be a support and becomes the center of strategy. This opens up a historical opportunity for banking: to modernize its infrastructure, differentiate its products, and support the expected growth for 2026, especially in areas such as corporate credit, regional expansion, and new payment experiences. Entities that combine agility and scale will be better positioned to lead the next financial decade in Latin America,” detailed Hernán Corral, our CPO and Co-Founder, in an interview with the prestigious Colombian media outlet Ecos del Combeima.
AI is no longer just a tool but has become basic infrastructure for payment processing and security. Beyond automating tasks, it positions itself as a co-pilot—or protagonist—for service personalization, customer service, and executing agentic payments capable of authorizing transactions or executing payment orders without human intervention, increasing speed without sacrificing protection.
Another trend for 2026 is chargeback management powered by AI, which redefines security and efficiency in the payment ecosystem: it allows for automating the monitoring and resolution of chargebacks, detecting anomalous behavior patterns in real-time, anticipating disputes, and optimizing response time. This technological combination not only protects users but also improves the operational efficiency of companies offering cards.
User experience demands immediacy, and companies need to optimize their liquidity, improve their payment chain, and reduce operational risks. The expectation is that money will be available instantly, as happens with systems like Pix in Brazil, transfers 3.0 in Argentina, or BRE-B in Colombia.
The region is also moving towards deep interoperability between traditional rails and digital payment systems, allowing domestic payments and international transactions to coexist on the same technological layer. This enables experiences where sending money to another country, paying a supplier, or receiving a refund is as easy as a local purchase.
2026 will be a year of democratization and globalization for the payment industry: aiming for immediacy, elimination of borders, and reduction of operational and user-borne costs. On the other hand, the collaboration between traditional banks and fintechs will not only expand the technological adoption base but also raise security, efficiency, and user experience standards to unprecedented levels.
A journalist and Communications graduate born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, she joined Pomelo’s marketing team after writing for media outlets, agencies, and IT companies—experiences that honed her ability to decipher technical information regarding software and blockchain. She is a cinephile who loves music and exploring new places, and—above all—she is a cat lover.
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