Financial services leaders are dealing with numerous pressures at the same time. These growing challenges for financial services organizations include sophisticated fraud, rapid Artificial Intelligence (AI) adoption without clear regulatory direction, rising customer expectations and the need for compliant, sustainable growth. Businesses are rethinking how they manage risk, growth and customer trust.
These financial industry challenges are no longer confined to internal risk teams. They directly impact long-term customer loyalty. How organizations navigate these challenges will determine how effectively they deliver value to their customers.
We’ve outlined the six challenges for financial services oranizations that consistently rank highest among industry leaders today.
Challenge 1: Fraud is becoming harder to detect and eroding customer trust
72% of business leaders expect AI-generated fraud and deepfakes to be major challenges by 20261
As fraud tactics evolve quickly, driven in part by AI, customers are being targeted through identity-based attacks from account takeovers to synthetic identities and misuse of personal information. When these threats go undetected, or when legitimate activity is incorrectly flagged, the result isn’t just financial loss. It’s a breakdown of trust.
Organizations that want to stay ahead must move beyond isolated fraud controls. By embedding identity management and monitoring into the customer experience, organizations can move from reactive fraud response to proactive identity protection. Identity theft protection and monitoring help organizations turn fraud prevention into a visible, trust-building experience for customers — offering early alerts, guidance, and peace of mind when identity risks arise.
Challenge 2: AI decisions must be trusted by customers, not just regulators
76% of businesses say implementing responsible AI is one of their biggest challenges2
As AI becomes more embedded in financial services, it shapes the experiences customers see every day. From credit decisions to eligibility outcomes and personalized offers. While AI can drive faster and more inclusive decisions, it also introduces a new expectation: customers want to understand why a decision was made.
Responsible AI is no longer just about regulatory compliance. It’s about delivering outcomes that feel fair, consistent and easy to understand. When decisions appear unclear, confidence erodes.
When organizations can clearly explain outcomes, not just internally, they build confidence across regulators, partners and customers. This allows AI to scale responsibly while reinforcing trust in every interaction. Financial wellness tools such as credit scores, reports and education help make AI-driven decisions more transparent, giving customers clarity into outcomes and confidence in how their financial health is assessed.
Challenge 3: Digital experiences are failing to deliver clarity and confidence
57% of U.S. consumers remain concerned about conducting activities online3
Customer confidence is affected by day-to-day interactions such as onboarding, payments and issue resolution. Inconsistent decisions, unclear outcomes and friction in digital journeys can quickly erode confidence and increase confusion, disengagement and abandonment.
Financial services leaders will need to rebuild and strengthen confidence. Improving key decision points with better data and analytics helps ensure customers receive timely insights, understandable outcomes and meaningful guidance, turning everyday interactions into opportunities to build stronger relationships. By delivering ongoing financial wellness insights and education, organizations can replace confusion with clarity — helping consumers better understand their financial standing and stay engaged over time.
Challenge 4: Gen Z continues to raise the bar
It's no secret that Gen Z stands out for its strong preference for digital financial services and digital interactions, but Gen Z is also pushing the envelope on financial wellness.
48% of Gen Z report that they do not feel financially secure, indicating strong demand for financial support and tools4
Their expectations for instant decisions, seamless digital experiences, transparency and tools that help them manage their financial lives are quickly becoming the baseline.
To meet and exceed these expectations, financial institutions will need to support real-time, data-driven decisioning that adapt to individual needs. Delivering modern, app-like financial experiences, without compromising risk management. Increasingly, organizations are meeting Gen Z expectations by offering financial wellness and protection tools through employee benefits, supporting everyday financial confidence beyond traditional compensation.
Challenge 5: Limited data limits meaningful consumer engagement
62 million U.S. consumers are thin-file or credit invisible under traditional credit scoring.5
Growth will always be a priority, but it must be responsible and inclusive. Traditional credit data alone often provides an incomplete picture of consumer financial behavior, limiting visibility and making it harder to confidently expand access.
By incorporating alternative and expanded data, organizations can gain a more holistic view of consumers. This broader perspective supports smarter decisions, personalized insights and more inclusive engagement, which enables growth while maintaining compliance and managing risk responsibly.
Expanded data supports more personalized financial wellness experiences, enabling organizations to provide relevant insights, responsible access and guidance tailored to individual consumer needs.
Challenge 6: Disconnected decisions create inconsistent customer experiences
Increasingly, fintech leaders are moving toward unified risk and decisioning strategies to deliver more personalized experiences6
While customers interact with a single institution, decisions are often made across disconnected data sources, systems and teams. These silos create inconsistent experiences, slow responses and operational complexities that customers feel directly through conflicting messages and uneven outcomes.
Experian helps organizations break down these silos by unifying data, analytics and decisioning across the enterprise. When data incidents occur, integrated experiences enable faster data breach resolution, helping consumers understand what happened, take action, and recover with confidence.
Looking ahead
These challenges for financial services organizations are not emerging; they’re already here and reshaping how financial institutions engage with consumers. Leaders who proactively address financial industry challenges by connecting data, analytics, and responsible AI are better positioned to deliver trusted, transparent and meaningful experiences.
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References:1. https://www.experian.com/blogs/insights/2025-identity-fraud-report2. https://www.techradar.com/pro/businesses-are-struggling-to-implement-responsible-ai-but-it-could-make-all-the-difference3. https://www.experian.com/blogs/insights/2025-identity-fraud-report4. https://www.deloitte.com/global/en/issues/work/genz-millennial-survey.html5. https://www.experian.com/thought-leadership/business/the-roi-of-alternative-data6. https://us-go.experian.com/2025-state-of-fintech-report?cmpid=IM-2025-state-of-fintech-report-livesocial-share
Do more with less. Once the mantra of the life-hacking movement, it seems to be the charge given to marketers across the globe. Reduce waste; increase conversion rates; customize messages at a customer level; and do it all faster and more efficiently (read cheaper) than you did last quarter. The marketing challenges facing all companies seem to be more pronounced for financial institutions – not surprising for an industry with a reputation for late adoption.
