Innovation Playbook Digital Banking 2026-27
The Innovation Playbook Digital Banking 2026-27 is a study by Boomit and ThinkUp based on interviews with more than 40 banking and fintech leaders, revealing the 5 forces redefining growth across the financial industry.
- +40 leaders interviewed
- 60 executives surveyed
- 15 countries covered
- Original research by Boomit + ThinkUp
What is the Innovation Playbook Digital Banking?
More than a study about the present of digital banking, this Playbook is a look at where industry leaders believe the biggest growth opportunities will be over the coming years.
The Innovation Playbook Digital Banking 2026–27 brings together the perspective of the people leading the transformation of the financial industry to answer one central question: where will the biggest growth opportunities be over the coming years?
Drawing on interviews with industry leaders and a quantitative survey of executives across business, technology, product and growth, the study identifies the main trends, opportunities and barriers that will shape the sector in the years ahead. Its purpose is to offer a data-driven view that supports strategic decision-making.
Who took part?
The study brings together the perspective of CEOs, Founders, General Managers and other leaders from banks, fintechs and companies across the financial ecosystem in Latin America and Spain.
Participants included executives from Marketing, Growth, Product, Technology, Operations and Executive Leadership, working at organizations of different sizes and levels of digital maturity, contributing a broad view of the challenges and opportunities the industry faces today.
- CEOs and Founders
- General Managers
- Executive Leadership
- Marketing
- Growth
- Product
- Technology
- Operations
The key findings
What are the leaders of banks and fintechs seeing that will shape the future of the industry? The study identifies the priorities, challenges and opportunities that hold the attention of the people making the sector's strategic decisions. These are some of the key findings:
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Growth is no longer measured in users, but in value.
The industry's priorities show a shift in focus: acquisition is still an important goal, but monetization, retention and operational efficiency keep gaining ground. The challenge is no longer growing faster, it is building profitable and sustainable growth.
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The next competitive advantage will not come from adopting technology, but from turning it into growth.
Most organizations have already launched artificial intelligence initiatives, mainly in customer service, operational automation and acquisition. The conversation is starting to move from experimentation toward embedding those capabilities into business processes.
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Data quality will decide who gets to scale and who does not.
Difficulties integrating information, data quality and reliance on legacy architectures come up as the main obstacles to accelerating digital transformation, ahead of factors such as talent or regulation.
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Profitability is consolidating as the industry's strategic priority.
Nine out of ten leaders place profitability at the center of the agenda for the coming years. At the same time, the study reflects an industry still working to balance growth, operational efficiency and customer value.
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The next competitive advantage will be in customer experience.
The trends identified in the Playbook point to smarter, more personalized and more contextual experiences, where hyper-personalization, invisible finance, AI agents and digital trust will be among the main drivers of differentiation.
Voices from the study
Beyond the quantitative analysis, the Innovation Playbook brings together leaders from banking and fintech across Latin America and Spain who share their experiences, priorities and perspectives on the future of the industry.
Pairing data with interviews complements the survey trends with real experiences from organizations already driving digital transformation.
The speed of all this used to multiply by two; now it multiplies by ten. Blink and you lose.
The key is to get ahead of the customer's needs and show up inside their routine, at the right moment
Real personalization is not putting their name in the email subject line, it is getting ahead of their need
If fraudsters get more sophisticated, the bank has to get twice as sophisticated
The credit cycle does not close at disbursement, it closes at collection. The secret is the intelligence you build into your underwriting models
The great revolution still ahead is how we move from national solutions to regional and global ones.
We are going to stop thinking in channels and start thinking in moments: the user should feel that Kash will be there when they need it
There is a move back to the human: having someone inside the digital channels who actually shows their face
What will you find in the report?
The Playbook is organized into seven chapters combining market analysis, original data and industry experience.
- Editorial introduction The starting point and the question that frames the whole study.
- Sample composition Who responded: profiles, types of organization and countries.
- Highlights 2026–2027 The headlines of the study in a quick read.
- Survey findings The questionnaire results, trend by trend.
- Interviews with sector leaders The qualitative view from the people executing the transformation.
- Indicator dashboard How to read the results and compare them with your own organization.
- Conclusions and recommendations What to do with all of this when it is time to decide.
Methodology
The research ran between March and June 2026 through a self-administered survey answered by 60 professionals from the digital financial ecosystem across Latin America and Spain, complemented by in-depth interviews with sector leaders.
The sample includes traditional banks, digital banks, fintechs, payment processors and other financial organizations of varying sizes, representing the diversity of the regional market.
- Traditional banks
- Digital banks
- Fintechs
- Payment processors
- Other financial organizations
- Fieldwork period
- March to June 2026
- Sample
- 60 professionals from the financial ecosystem
- Method
- Self-administered survey + in-depth interviews
- Coverage
- 15 countries across Latin America and Spain
Frequently asked questions
What is the main finding of the study?
The main finding is that the financial industry is redefining its priorities. Innovation has stopped being a goal in itself and become a tool in the service of sustainable growth. Through original data and the perspective of bank and fintech leaders, the Playbook identifies the priorities, challenges and opportunities that will shape digital banking over the coming years.
Who is this study for?
Executives in banking, fintech, innovation, product, marketing, growth and digital transformation who want to understand how the financial industry is evolving and which strategic priorities will define the coming years.
What kind of information does it include?
It includes the survey results, trend analysis, interviews with sector leaders, comparative indicators and conclusions drawn from the original research data.
Is there any cost to access the Playbook?
No. The content can be downloaded free of charge by completing the form on this page.
About Boomit and ThinkUp
Boomit is a Growth Marketing company specialized in the financial sector. It builds customer acquisition and monetization systems for B2C and B2B products, helping fintechs and banks across Latin America and Spain scale with strategy, data and sector-specific expertise.
Visit Boomit
ThinkUp specializes in the design, development and evolution of digital products for banks, fintechs and neobanks. It combines strategy, design and technology to accelerate innovation, improve the user experience and drive adoption, retention and conversion across digital channels.
Visit ThinkUp
How we work with the financial industry
The Playbook comes out of what we see every day working with banks and fintechs across the region. These are some of those projects.
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Validating new markets and accelerating a regional expansion
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Acelerando adquisición de inversores en una fintech de México
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Elevating a Leading U.S. Coworking Brand Through Data-Driven Growth
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Event-Based Attribution & Optimization for Regional Expansion – Boomit
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Download the Innovation Playbook Digital Banking 2026–27
Get the full study and explore the data, trends and interviews that explain how digital banking and fintech are evolving across Latin America and Spain.
Download the Playbook