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A new global study from ACI Worldwide and Globant reveals a growing disconnect between payments executives' confidence in their leadership and their actual readiness for innovation. While 69% of surveyed leaders consider their organizations to be industry leaders, fewer than half (44%) state that payments innovation is a C-suite priority, highlighting a modernisation gap that could define competitive standing in 2026 and beyond.
ACI Worldwide study finds 69% of payments execs see their firms as leaders, but only 44% say innovation is a C-suite priority.
Legacy platforms (44%) and internal cultural resistance (53%) are top barriers to modernization.
Only 36% of organizations have a clear long-term roadmap for payments modernization.
Fraud/cybersecurity risks (77%) and regulatory complexity (63%) are major innovation hurdles.
Customer demand (79%) is the top catalyst for change, expecting instant, secure transactions.
AI is expected to move beyond fraud detection to power dynamic routing and agentic commerce by 2026.
The research, surveying 500 industry leaders worldwide, identifies a significant gap between perceived leadership and strategic focus. A major contributing factor is the underutilization of existing technology, with 55% of executives admitting they are not fully leveraging available tools. This is compounded by legacy infrastructure, cited by 44% as the biggest obstacle, and internal cultural resistance, noted by 53% as a key factor slowing transformation.
The data indicates a lack of strategic clarity at many organizations. Only 36% of payments executives report having a clear long-term roadmap for payments and investment modernization. Furthermore, just 25% of organizations are actively phasing out aging payments platforms, despite widespread recognition that these outdated systems limit agility and delay new product launches. This creates a risky environment where ambition is not matched by execution.
External pressures are intensifying the need for change. The top catalyst is customer demand (79%), with expectations for instant, secure, and reliable payments becoming the baseline. However, barriers are significant: 77% cite fraud and cybersecurity risks as top innovation barriers, and 63% point to regulatory complexity. Looking ahead, the report indicates AI will evolve from fraud detection to powering dynamic routing, real-time anomaly detection, and self-improving models, with agentic commerce and AI-driven payment orchestration becoming dominant.
The study underscores an urgent need for payments leaders to align confidence with concrete action. Philip Bruno, chief strategy and growth officer at ACI Worldwide, stated, “Modernisation is no longer a long-term goal. It’s an immediate need.” The report concludes that organizations must retire legacy systems and embed intelligence and agility into their platforms now to set the future standard, preparing for regulatory changes and rising technological demands expected in 2026.
The ACI Worldwide study paints a picture of an industry at a critical inflection point. A surplus of confidence is being undermined by deficits in strategic prioritization, roadmap clarity, and legacy system modernization. As customer expectations and regulatory demands accelerate, the gap between self-perception and readiness poses a substantial risk. Organizations that rapidly address internal cultural and technological barriers to embed intelligent, real-time capabilities will be best positioned to lead the next era of payments transformation.
About ACI Worldwide
ACI Worldwide, an original innovator in global payments technology, delivers transformative software solutions that power intelligent payments orchestration in real time so banks, billers, and retailers can drive growth, while continuously modernizing their payment infrastructures, simply and securely. With 50 years of trusted payments expertise, we combine our global footprint with a local presence to offer enhanced payment experiences to stay ahead of constantly changing payment challenges and opportunities.
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