Banking Frontier 2026

International Banking Summit

Banking Frontier 2026

Five days in Amsterdam, each published under one theme. The drawing beside this is abstract: it maps nothing and predicts nothing.

AI & Trusted FinanceDay 1 · 23 November 2026

Identity & Cyber ResilienceDay 2 · 24 November 2026

Payments & Digital AssetsDay 3 · 25 November 2026

Customer Growth & Platform BankingDay 4 · 26 November 2026

Future-Proofing Banking 2027–2030Day 5 · 27 November 2026

Dates
23–27 November 2026
Venue
Holiday Inn Amsterdam – Arena Towers
City
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Register Full agenda
  1. AI & Trusted FinanceDay 1 · 23 November 2026 · 14 sessions
  2. Identity & Cyber ResilienceDay 2 · 24 November 2026 · 16 sessions
  3. Payments & Digital AssetsDay 3 · 25 November 2026 · 20 sessions
  4. Customer Growth & Platform BankingDay 4 · 26 November 2026 · 23 sessions
  5. Future-Proofing Banking 2027–2030Day 5 · 27 November 2026 · 16 sessions

Future priorities on the programme

Four of the five day themes, in the programme's own words. The fifth closes the week on future-proofing banking for 2027–2030.

  • Where AI stops being a pilot

    AI-native banking, governance, model risk, data foundations, and the path from pilots to enterprise value.

  • Where trust has to be instant

    Digital identity, fraud prevention, authentication, cyber resilience, and real-time trust across banking journeys.

  • Where money changes rails

    Instant payments, wallets, tokenization, Open Finance, digital assets, and the future of money movement.

  • Where the channel becomes the platform

    Omnichannel journeys, AI-assisted service, smart branches, SME banking, and platform-based growth.

Five themes in full

Each theme is set out as published, then followed by three verified session samples and one contributor from that day. Times are Central European Time (CET).

AI & Trusted Finance

Day 1 · 23 November 2026 · 14 sessions

AI-native banking, governance, model risk, data foundations, and the path from pilots to enterprise value.

  • AI governance & model risk

    09:00–09:30 · Room A · Main Stage

    Rita Gnutti · Head of Internal Validation and Controls · Intesa Sanpaolo · Italy

  • Data, AI enablement & intelligent automation for bank operations

    09:30–10:00 · Room B · Innovation & Implementation

    Gladson Baby · VP & Director of Data & AI Enablement · Fifth Third Bank · US

  • Scaling AI responsibly: leadership playbook for AI risk & compliance

    10:00–10:30 · Room A · Main Stage

    Frans Vanbruggen · Werkgebied Lead · AI Coalitie 4 Nederland (AIC4NL) · Netherlands

Rita Gnutti, Executive Director, Internal Validation and Controls, Group Chief Risk Officer Area

Rita Gnutti

Executive Director, Internal Validation and Controls, Group Chief Risk Officer Area, Intesa Sanpaolo, Italy

AI governance & model risk · 09:00–09:30

Identity & Cyber Resilience

Day 2 · 24 November 2026 · 16 sessions

Digital identity, fraud prevention, authentication, cyber resilience, and real-time trust across banking journeys.

  • Corporate digital identity management

    09:00–09:30 · Room A · Main Stage

    Stephan Wolf · Chair of the Board · Verifiable.Trade Foundation · Germany

  • Digital trust in AI-led banking · risk, audit and cyber oversight at board level

    09:30–10:00 · Room A · Main Stage

    Dr. Björn Lenzmann · Member of The Supervisory Board · DenizBank · Turkey

  • User centricity in cybersecurity · UX research and behavioural science

    09:30–10:00 · Room B · Innovation & Implementation

    Nazima Kadir · Global Head of UX: Cybersecurity · J.P. Morgan · UK

Stephan Wolf, Chair of the Board, Verifiable.Trade Foundation; Leadership Team, LEI Worldwide

Stephan Wolf

Chair of the Board, Verifiable.Trade Foundation; Leadership Team, LEI Worldwide, LEI Worldwide / Verifiable Trade Foundation, Germany

Corporate digital identity management · 09:00–09:30

Payments & Digital Assets

Day 3 · 25 November 2026 · 20 sessions

Instant payments, wallets, tokenization, Open Finance, digital assets, and the future of money movement.

  • Instant payments and interoperability

    09:00–09:30 · Room A · Main Stage

    Domenico Scaffidi · CEO & Founder · DS Payments Ltd · UK

  • The new payments landscape · instant, interoperable, invisible and built on trust

    09:00–09:30 · Room B · Innovation & Implementation

    Paul Walvik-Joynt · VP Commercialization Real-Time Payments · Mastercard · Norway

  • Digital wallets and biometric payments · customer experience and secure authentication

    09:30–10:00 · Room B · Innovation & Implementation

    Mihai Draghici · Founder & CEO · PayByFace · Romania

Domenico Scaffidi, CEO and Founder / Independent Consultant, Global Payments Innovation Practice

Domenico Scaffidi

CEO and Founder / Independent Consultant, Global Payments Innovation Practice, DS Payments Ltd, United Kingdom

Instant payments and interoperability · 09:00–09:30

Customer Growth & Platform Banking

Day 4 · 26 November 2026 · 23 sessions

Omnichannel journeys, AI-assisted service, smart branches, SME banking, and platform-based growth.

  • Human-AI banking experience

    09:00–09:30 · Room A · Main Stage

    Rudolf Stefanich · Lead UX Researcher · Bitpanda · Austria

  • AI-augmented service and product-led banking at scale

    09:00–09:30 · Room B · Innovation & Implementation

    Speaker TBC

  • Present and Future of Digital Transformation in Islamic Banking

    09:30–10:00 · Room A · Main Stage

    Wan Halim · Head of Shariah Governance (Global) · Crédit Agricole CIB · UAE

Rudolf Stefanich, Senior Manager - Product Insights

Rudolf Stefanich

Senior Manager - Product Insights, Bitpanda / New Design University, Austria

Human-AI banking experience · 09:00–09:30

Future-Proofing Banking 2027–2030

Day 5 · 27 November 2026 · 16 sessions

Post-quantum readiness, sovereign AI, and the technologies shaping banking to 2030.

  • Systemic Risk in European Banking 2027–2030: Geopolitics, AI and Structural Vulnerabilities

    09:00–09:30 · Room A · Main Stage

    Ulf Holmberg · Functional Lead and Senior Analyst · Swedbank · Sweden

  • Preparing banks for systemic threats: cyber, geopolitical disruption and operational concentration risk

    09:00–09:30 · Room B · Innovation & Implementation

    Naji Freiha · Risk Appetite, Strategy and Governance · Konsilium · France

  • Systemic threats and stress testing · post-quantum readiness

    09:30–10:00 · Room A · Main Stage

    Christoffer Kok · Head of Division, Stress Test Experts · European Central Bank · Germany

Ulf Holmberg, Functional Lead and Senior Analyst

Ulf Holmberg

Functional Lead and Senior Analyst, Swedbank, Sweden

Systemic Risk in European Banking 2027–2030: Geopolitics, AI and Structural Vulnerabilities · 09:00–09:30

The actual agenda and the people on it

89 sessions

Across 5 days in two rooms — Main Stage (Room A · strategy) and Innovation & Implementation (Room B · delivery) — each with a published time, room and attribution.

Open the full agenda

65 speakers

From 31 countries. Nobody appears on this page who is not on the official roster, and no one is positioned as a forecast.

Open the full roster

Attending

  • In person

    Both rooms run at Holiday Inn Amsterdam – Arena Towers, Amsterdam, for all 5 days, 23–27 November 2026.

  • Online

    Online participation runs alongside the in-person forum. Current passes and terms appear only on the official registration page.

Registration and current conditions

Source photography

Three photographs from previous Zenith Group events, in natural colour, each captioned for what it is. Banking Frontier 2026 takes place 23–27 November 2026 and is not shown here.

Scene from a previous Zenith Group event
Photograph from a previous Zenith Group event. Banking Frontier 2026 takes place 23-27 November 2026.
Scene from a previous Zenith Group event
Photograph from a previous Zenith Group event. Banking Frontier 2026 takes place 23-27 November 2026.
Scene from a previous Zenith Group event
Photograph from a previous Zenith Group event. Banking Frontier 2026 takes place 23-27 November 2026.

Holiday Inn Amsterdam – Arena Towers

Venue
Holiday Inn Amsterdam – Arena Towers
Address
Hoogoorddreef 66a, 1101 BE Amsterdam, Netherlands
Nearest station
Bijlmer ArenA · 4-min walk
From Schiphol
Train Schiphol → Bijlmer ArenA, approx. 15 min
Parking
P1 ArenA · paid, on-site
Accessibility
Step-free access; accessible WCs on every floor
Registration desk
Ground floor lobby, signposted on arrival
Published times
Central European Time (CET)

Travel and access details

Questions and organiser

Is the line drawing a map?

No. It is an abstract figure generated from a fixed sum of sines. It is not terrain, not a region, not a trend and not a forecast, and it is hidden from screen readers.

Does a theme's position on the drawing mean anything?

No. The labels sit where the lines leave room, and the same five themes are listed as plain text directly underneath, in day order.

Does this page predict anything?

No. Every statement about the future here is the programme's own description of a day, quoted as published.

What is the programme?

89 sessions across 5 days in two rooms, 23–27 November 2026, all times Central European Time (CET), with 65 listed speakers from 31 countries.

Can I attend online?

In-person and online participation are both available. Current passes, terms and any group conditions are shown on the official registration page.

Zenith-Energie International s.r.o., Rezlerova 273/74, Petrovice, 109 00 Praha, Czechia. Company ID 02354357, VAT CZ02354357. Enquiries: info@group-zenith.com. This is an information page; registration, payment and official announcements happen only on the official site.