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US FinCrime Operations: Trends Set to Shape 2026

As 2025 draws to a close, we predict a growing focus on margin optimization, centralized client lifecycle management and AI governance in 2026. In the following blog post, Tracy Moore, Director of Thought Leadership & Regulatory Affairs and Garry Teekah, Director, Market Development delve into these key predictions for the coming year, drawing on insights from Fenergo's US leadership team.

Rethinking how Profitability is Scaled

As we move into 2026, financial institutions in North America are at a crossroads. Economic signals, including the potential for interest rate cuts, suggest that financial institutions will be under pressure to scale margins in 2026.  

In response, executive focus will shift toward margin optimization. This is not simply about cutting costs. Instead, financial institutions will more closely focus on how efficiently they operate across the entire client lifecycle from onboarding and due diligence through to ongoing relationship management. Investments that do not clearly improve operational efficiency or scalability will come under greater scrutiny. Technology decisions will increasingly be evaluated based on their ability to deliver measurable margin impact and enable institutions to do more with existing resources. 

In 2026, the financial institutions that perform will be those that treat operational efficiency as a strategic advantage. By taking what has traditionally been viewed as cost centers – onboarding processes and compliance platforms - and turning them into streamlined infrastructure and monetizable services, leading financial institutions will avoid shrinking margins.  

Centralized Client Management as a Strategic Lever for Efficiency  

Against this backdrop, several large financial institutions began to centralize client management operations in 2025; a trend we predict will continue across the industry throughout 2026.  

"We’re-seeing major institutions move rapidly to centralize client management, break down silos, and unlock operational efficiency across business lines". Tracy Moore, Director of Strategic Thought Leadership & Regulatory Affairs, Fenergo

Financial institutions are increasingly recognizing that fragmented client data and duplicated processes undermine both profitability and resilience. In 2026, many will harmonize long-standing organizational silos across lines of business, products, and teams. This will drive continued momentum toward unified client management models that span onboarding, periodic reviews, and lifecycle management. 

This shift makes financial institutions more profitable and resilient by: 

  • Enhancing operational efficiency - centralized processes eliminate duplication and reduce manual effort 
  • Strengthening risk management - providing a single, consolidated view of the client improves auditability and regulatory confidence 
  • Building business agility - unified data enables faster decision-making and more responsive client services 

Taking a centralized, client-centric approach will enable financial institutions to uncover cost savings, new revenue opportunities, and enhanced customer satisfaction in 2026.  

AI Maturity Through Explainability and Governance

AI became a key lever for financial institutions (FIs) in client lifecycle management in 2025. Some of the most high-impact use cases continue to be within client management in 2026, particularly in automating back- and middle-office processes that remain heavily manual today. These areas are rich in structured and unstructured data and governed by well-defined regulatory procedures, making them well suited to intelligent automation and agent-driven workflows. 

The conversation around AI in financial services will mature in 2026. As the industry moves beyond experimentation, the focus shifts from potential to practical value. Agentic AI represents a new generation of artificial intelligence (AI) systems, with more autonomy and better decision-making capabilities. For financial institutions looking to improve the effectiveness and cost-efficiency of their compliance operations, these systems introduce a range of new opportunities. But to fully capitalize on the agentic AI opportunity, financial institutions will need a unified technology and data architecture to underpin it.  

The institutions that succeed with agentic AI will also be those that support it with strong operational foundations and governance. Governance frameworks will mature in 2026 to ensure transparency and oversight as institutions will seek to balance innovation with control.

"When we talk about getting real value from AI in financial institutions, there needs to be a tangible problem to point it at and intelligent rails to-operate-on". Garry Teekah, Director, Market Development at Fenergo

For financial institutions that master these steps, the implications for productivity, client service and competitive differentiation will be profound. 

Looking Ahead 

Taken together, these three trends point to a clear theme for 2026: financial institutions must operate smarter, not just faster. Margin pressure, regulatory scrutiny, and technological opportunity, regulatory scrutiny, and technological opportunity are converging to elevate client management from a functional concern to a strategic priority. Institutions that get this right will be better positioned to navigate uncertainty and to compete effectively in a rapidly evolving financial landscape.