Written by Laura Lenz, Dave Wechsler and Ryan Zauk
As we approach 2025, the fintech landscape is poised for significant evolution. At OMERS Ventures, we are closely watching how technologies like AI, stablecoins, and new forms of infrastructure are reshaping global financial services. From the rise of AI agents to the continued growth of international fintech, here are our 10 fintech predictions for 2025.
1. The AI Fraud Wave Comes Crashing: A Game-Changer for Financial Security
Like every transformational technology, AI is being adopted just as much by bad actors as they are by the good. Already this year, institutions and individuals have started falling victim to scams fueled by AI, and we think the nefarious potential of this tech is just getting started.
Our team had some fun a couple of weeks ago with OpenAI’s new Voice Agent (dial 1-800 CHAT-GPT to give it a try), but we were also blown away by how easily this voice tech could fool a family relative or customer service agent.
We foresee a massive AI-powered fraud wave in 2025, likely driven by ultra-convincing deepfakes, voice AI, and creative phishing made easy by AI. FI’s stand to lose the most, and will be prime targets…
2. …Leading to Continued Demand (and Venture $ Supply) for AI-First Innovation
As fintech and AI become more integrated in the global financial system, the compliance suite will take center stage. Rapid improvements in fraud capability, faster launching of products, continued FI headcount pressure, and regulatory/reputational scrutiny will all fuel FIs trying to find ways to manage risk more efficiently and effectively.
Many processes still rely on sample-based testing or human-intensive workflows that don’t scale…but with AI, we think winners can emerge to change this sector. Selling into these FIs and keeping your advantage will be a whole separate discussion, but we’re excited by what we’ve seen so far.
3. AI Agents Start Seeing Sunlight in Financial Services
We’re on the brink of seeing fintech agents transition from theory to real-world apps. These AI agents will appear in the wild, playing increasingly integral roles in payment processes, customer service, and back-office operations. One of the major signals in this area was Stripe's recently launched AI agent SDK.
Expect venture dollars to flow into agents that can specifically facilitate or move money, such as payment agents, fraud detection tools, or AI-driven customer service bots...and all the underlying infra to power them. Crypto x Agents will be one of the biggest taglines of 2025. We think mainstream adoption is still far off, but we’ll see the momentum build in 2025.
4. The AI ROI Split: 'Show Me the Money' Era
AI adoption in fintech will continue at a rapid pace in 2025, but in H2’25, the industry will be firmly in the “show me the money” era. Investors and stakeholders will begin demanding quantifiable results from AI investments as competition continues to flood the market and POCs/innovation projects look for full-time conversion. Expect to see a more discerning approach to AI projects, with an increased focus on practical applications that drive bottom-line growth.
5. More Legacy Systems Overhaul Attempts – Coming for COBOL
Legacy infrastructure in financial services has long been a challenge, but we’re entering an era where AI and automation are giving new momentum to legacy system modernization. Amazon’s announcement of a COBOL migration solution is just another step, as there are a number of professional services firms, AI-first solutions, and companies in stealth we’re excited about.
Expect more fintechs to tackle these challenges head-on in 2025.
6. Stablecoins: Dominating the Payments and Payroll Conversation
Stablecoins will continue to be a hot topic in 2025, particularly for global payroll, cross-border B2B/P2P payments, and USD demand in emerging and developing markets.
Expect a flurry of product announcements (we saw some of this already), strategic acquisitions (saw this), and large funding rounds (hello again) looking to innovate. Don’t sleep on PayPal as well, who has quietly been shipping a ton in global digital assets. We’re very excited here.
7. Demand for “Equity-Like Behavior in Alternative Assets” Accelerates
Our team went deep on alternative assets in 2024 including a demo day for our global credit team, and are excited by the massive opportunity in this space. Demand for alts ranging from private credit to real assets continues to surge…but the technology to track, diligence, report, and monitor these assets remain archaic and human-intensive. We expect material technology investments not just from the large asset managers but the long tail of middle market and lower middle market firms to accelerate.
8. M&A Accelerates, Headlined by Point Solution Rollups and a Few Big Splashes
2022-2023 saw a number of point solutions get acquired by larger platforms, especially in areas like Office of the CFO, bank software, and identity. As venture funding dries up for point solutions facing lower growth and vendor consolidation, we think platforms will be poised to scoop them up. We think identity and BaaS will be prime targets...
Fintech has been largely void of major strategic M&A until Stripe acquired Bridge, CCC bought EvolutionIQ, and Gen acquired MoneyLion, adding momentum heading into 2025. On the larger side, we saw BlackRock buy private markets data provider Preqin, and 2 investment shops with alts exposure (HPS + GIP). We’d be excited to see companies like a reinvigorated PayPal + Block, Plaid, Intuit, Shopify, or software firms like Salesforce & HubSpot get back into creative fintech acquisitions.
9. Apple's Growing Fintech Influence Leans Even More Into Identity
Apple’s fintech era was so swift, seamless, and omnipresent that it’s almost hard to imagine an era before Apple Pay + Apple Wallet. Despite some growing pains with Apple Card, BNPL, and Apple Cash, their shipping speed and acquisition tact was impressive. Those who follow fintech closely know they’ve made moves in identity, including driver’s license acceptance in a number of states, but we think 2025 will bring a flurry of activity from them in this space.
It’s always hard to predict what Apple will do next, but think portable identity, more driver’s license adoption, KYC services, opening up facial recognition tech, and more as things to watch…
10. Late-Stage Private Fintechs Start Partnering to Compete
As large, late-stage private fintechs mature, we’ll see more partnership-focused strategies to drive innovation and growth. The days of “build or buy” as the go-to approach for scaling and competing will slowly give way to a more collaborative mindset whether by choice or necessity. A good example of this trend is the partnership between Navan and Brex, which signals a broader shift towards cooperative strategies and leaning into strengths to tackle the increasingly competitive landscape.
2025 is shaping up to be such an exciting year for our industry, building off a promising 2024. We can’t wait to see what’s next!
