Banking Frontier 2026

A full seminar room of delegates facing a presenter at a previous Zenith Group event
Photograph from a previous Zenith Group event. Banking Frontier 2026 takes place 23–27 November 2026.

A five-day working programme on banking and finance, published in advance: 89 sessions, two rooms, and 65 named speakers from 31 countries.

International Banking Summit

Banking Frontier 2026

23–27 November 2026
Holiday Inn Amsterdam – Arena Towers
Amsterdam, Netherlands

Register Full agenda

The five days

  • AI & Trusted FinanceDay 1 · 23 November 2026
  • Identity & Cyber ResilienceDay 2 · 24 November 2026
  • Payments & Digital AssetsDay 3 · 25 November 2026
  • Customer Growth & Platform BankingDay 4 · 26 November 2026
  • Future-Proofing Banking 2027–2030Day 5 · 27 November 2026

Finance priorities on the programme

Four of the five day themes, in the programme's own words. The fifth — future-proofing banking for 2027–2030 — closes the week.

  • Governance that survives deployment

    AI-native banking, governance, model risk, data foundations, and the path from pilots to enterprise value.

  • Trust that holds up in real time

    Digital identity, fraud prevention, authentication, cyber resilience, and real-time trust across banking journeys.

  • Money that moves differently

    Instant payments, wallets, tokenization, Open Finance, digital assets, and the future of money movement.

  • Growth through the platform

    Omnichannel journeys, AI-assisted service, smart branches, SME banking, and platform-based growth.

Five days around one centreline

The sections below alternate wide and narrow for reading rhythm. Width carries no meaning: the days are chronological and equal. Times are Central European Time (CET).

AI & Trusted Finance

Day 1 · 23 November 2026

14 sessions

AI-native banking, governance, model risk, data foundations, and the path from pilots to enterprise value.

  • AI governance & model risk

    09:00–09:30 · Room A · Main Stage

    Rita Gnutti · Head of Internal Validation and Controls · Intesa Sanpaolo · Italy

  • Data, AI enablement & intelligent automation for bank operations

    09:30–10:00 · Room B · Innovation & Implementation

    Gladson Baby · VP & Director of Data & AI Enablement · Fifth Third Bank · US

  • Scaling AI responsibly: leadership playbook for AI risk & compliance

    10:00–10:30 · Room A · Main Stage

    Frans Vanbruggen · Werkgebied Lead · AI Coalitie 4 Nederland (AIC4NL) · Netherlands

Identity & Cyber Resilience

Day 2 · 24 November 2026

16 sessions

Digital identity, fraud prevention, authentication, cyber resilience, and real-time trust across banking journeys.

  • Corporate digital identity management

    09:00–09:30 · Room A · Main Stage

    Stephan Wolf · Chair of the Board · Verifiable.Trade Foundation · Germany

  • Digital trust in AI-led banking · risk, audit and cyber oversight at board level

    09:30–10:00 · Room A · Main Stage

    Dr. Björn Lenzmann · Member of The Supervisory Board · DenizBank · Turkey

  • User centricity in cybersecurity · UX research and behavioural science

    09:30–10:00 · Room B · Innovation & Implementation

    Nazima Kadir · Global Head of UX: Cybersecurity · J.P. Morgan · UK

Payments & Digital Assets

Day 3 · 25 November 2026

20 sessions

Instant payments, wallets, tokenization, Open Finance, digital assets, and the future of money movement.

  • Instant payments and interoperability

    09:00–09:30 · Room A · Main Stage

    Domenico Scaffidi · CEO & Founder · DS Payments Ltd · UK

  • The new payments landscape · instant, interoperable, invisible and built on trust

    09:00–09:30 · Room B · Innovation & Implementation

    Paul Walvik-Joynt · VP Commercialization Real-Time Payments · Mastercard · Norway

  • Digital wallets and biometric payments · customer experience and secure authentication

    09:30–10:00 · Room B · Innovation & Implementation

    Mihai Draghici · Founder & CEO · PayByFace · Romania

Customer Growth & Platform Banking

Day 4 · 26 November 2026

23 sessions

Omnichannel journeys, AI-assisted service, smart branches, SME banking, and platform-based growth.

  • Human-AI banking experience

    09:00–09:30 · Room A · Main Stage

    Rudolf Stefanich · Lead UX Researcher · Bitpanda · Austria

  • AI-augmented service and product-led banking at scale

    09:00–09:30 · Room B · Innovation & Implementation

    Speaker TBC

  • Present and Future of Digital Transformation in Islamic Banking

    09:30–10:00 · Room A · Main Stage

    Wan Halim · Head of Shariah Governance (Global) · Crédit Agricole CIB · UAE

Future-Proofing Banking 2027–2030

Day 5 · 27 November 2026

16 sessions

Post-quantum readiness, sovereign AI, and the technologies shaping banking to 2030.

  • Systemic Risk in European Banking 2027–2030: Geopolitics, AI and Structural Vulnerabilities

    09:00–09:30 · Room A · Main Stage

    Ulf Holmberg · Functional Lead and Senior Analyst · Swedbank · Sweden

  • Preparing banks for systemic threats: cyber, geopolitical disruption and operational concentration risk

    09:00–09:30 · Room B · Innovation & Implementation

    Naji Freiha · Risk Appetite, Strategy and Governance · Konsilium · France

  • Systemic threats and stress testing · post-quantum readiness

    09:30–10:00 · Room A · Main Stage

    Christoffer Kok · Head of Division, Stress Test Experts · European Central Bank · Germany

The complete 89-session agenda

Speakers and institutions

Two contributions in full, then four more as text. An organisation is named only because the official roster lists it as that person's employer.

Rita Gnutti, Executive Director, Internal Validation and Controls, Group Chief Risk Officer Area

Rita Gnutti

Executive Director, Internal Validation and Controls, Group Chief Risk Officer Area

Intesa Sanpaolo, Italy

AI governance & model risk

Day 1, 23 November 2026 · 09:00–09:30 · Room A · Main Stage

  • Define what trusted AI-driven finance means for banks in 2027–2030.
  • Link customer value, transparency and control to scalable AI adoption.
  • Address model risk, explainability and governance guardrails.

Rita Gnutti · Head of Internal Validation and Controls · Intesa Sanpaolo · Italy

Stephan Wolf, Chair of the Board, Verifiable.Trade Foundation; Leadership Team, LEI Worldwide

Stephan Wolf

Chair of the Board, Verifiable.Trade Foundation; Leadership Team, LEI Worldwide

LEI Worldwide / Verifiable Trade Foundation, Germany

Corporate digital identity management

Day 2, 24 November 2026 · 09:00–09:30 · Room A · Main Stage

  • Position digital identity as core banking infrastructure, not a back-office utility.
  • Explore wallet-based identity, verified credentials and organisational identity.
  • Support cross-border onboarding and trusted customer access.

Stephan Wolf · Chair of the Board · Verifiable.Trade Foundation · Germany

Domenico Scaffidi

CEO and Founder / Independent Consultant, Global Payments Innovation Practice

DS Payments Ltd, United Kingdom

Instant payments and interoperability

Day 3, 25 November 2026 · 09:00–09:30 · Room A · Main Stage

Rudolf Stefanich

Senior Manager - Product Insights

Bitpanda / New Design University, Austria

Human-AI banking experience

Day 4, 26 November 2026 · 09:00–09:30 · Room A · Main Stage

Ulf Holmberg

Functional Lead and Senior Analyst

Swedbank, Sweden

Systemic Risk in European Banking 2027–2030: Geopolitics, AI and Structural Vulnerabilities

Day 5, 27 November 2026 · 09:00–09:30 · Room A · Main Stage

Gladson Baby

Vice President & Director of Data & AI Enablement

Fifth Third Bank, United States

Data, AI enablement & intelligent automation for bank operations

Day 1, 23 November 2026 · 09:30–10:00 · Room B · Innovation & Implementation

The full roster of 65 speakers

Participation

  • In person

    Both rooms run at Holiday Inn Amsterdam – Arena Towers, Amsterdam, for all 5 days, 23–27 November 2026.

  • Online

    Online participation runs alongside the in-person forum. Current passes and terms appear only on the official registration page.

Registration and current conditions

Sponsor and exhibitor information

Sponsorship and exhibiting are arranged directly with the organiser. No package, tier, price, stand or partner name appears here, and no partner logo is shown: the verified source publishes none of it.

Sponsor and exhibitor opportunities

Organiser

Zenith-Energie International s.r.o.
Rezlerova 273/74, Petrovice, 109 00 Praha, Czechia

Company ID 02354357 · VAT CZ02354357

info@group-zenith.com

Questions

Why do the programme sections change width?

For reading rhythm only. Every section sits on the same centreline, and a wider section does not mean a more important day — the days are simply chronological.

What runs on each day?

AI & Trusted Finance, Identity & Cyber Resilience, Payments & Digital Assets, Customer Growth & Platform Banking, Future-Proofing Banking 2027–2030. Two rooms run in parallel across 5 days, 89 sessions in total, all times Central European Time (CET).

Are the institutions named here endorsing the forum?

No. An organisation appears only because the official roster lists it as a speaker's employer. No endorsement, sponsorship or partnership is implied by a name on this page.

Can I attend online?

In-person and online participation are both available. Current passes, terms and any group conditions are shown on the official registration page.

Are prices shown here?

No. Passes and terms change on the source, so the only place they are stated is the official registration page.

Organiser

Legal identity

Zenith-Energie International s.r.o., Rezlerova 273/74, Petrovice, 109 00 Praha, Czechia.

Company ID 02354357 · VAT CZ02354357

info@group-zenith.com · +420 778 647 921

What this page is

An information page about Banking Frontier 2026. It takes no payment and holds no booking.

Contact on the official site