Future of Banking Summit, Sydney 2025

• Shifts in Consumer Behaviour: High inflation is pushing individuals towards alternative financing options, including increased reliance on credit, short-term loans, and savings depletion, impacting long-term financial security. 
• Evolving Lending Landscape: The rise of BNPL and flexible credit products is reshaping lending behaviours, increasing financial stress on households and adding risk exposure for financial institutions. 
• Regulatory Response & Insolvency Risks: Regulators are tightening oversight on emerging lending products, while rising debt levels and economic pressures contribute to increasing rates of personal insolvencies in Australia. 

• Transforming Banking Infrastructure: How banks are rethinking their infrastructure and overhauling their legacy systems to not just adapt, but lead the charge in innovation and customer experience 
• Cloud as a Game Changer: How cloud technologies have reduced downtime during major incidents by 70%, transforming banking reliability and enabling the industry to unlock new opportunities for growth and efficiency. 
• Facing System Upgrade Realities: The unspoken challenges banks must address to ensure their system modernisation is not just technically sound, but future-proof and customer-centric 

• Top Technology Trends in 2025 and a spotlight on Agentic AI
• AI Squid Game based on Australian AI voluntary standard guardrails (audience participation required) and survey insights
• Use Cases: Application of AI/machine learning to capital, liquidity, forecasting and valuation

Our peer to peer roundtable discussions enable you to engage with other attendees as they rotate from table to table.

Each discussion features one of 16 distinct topics and is hosted by a technology expert together with an industry co-host to drive an engaging conversation amongst the participants.

This year's topics span across Digital Identity, Banking Process Transformation, IT Innovation and Modernisation, Economic Trends, Customer Trust and Expectations, Advanced Data & Analytics, and more.

• CPS 230 as a Catalyst: APRA's CPS 230 regulation is a timely opportunity for banks to transform cybersecurity from a compliance requirement into a competitive advantage through enhanced operational resilience and risk management.
• Cyber Risk Readiness: To meet CPS 230 expectations, banks must embed a proactive, organisation-wide cyber risk culture focused on resilience, board accountability, and alignment with global frameworks like DORA and NIS2.
• Actionable Steps Forward: Immediate priorities include conducting robust risk assessments, strengthening incident response, investing in threat detection technologies, and ensuring all departments play a role in cybersecurity governance.

• Reimagining Payments: How payment systems and standards like ISO 20022 are transforming cross-border transactions, making international payments faster, more efficient, and cost-effective for Australian businesses and consumers.
• Collaborative Regulation: The crucial role of regulators, banks, and fintechs working together to create policies that foster innovation while ensuring compliance.
• Global Market Expansion: The opportunities and challenges of a globally connected payments system, empowering Australian businesses to tap into new markets and driving growth while balancing regulatory needs.

For the past two years, the question of how to best use artificial intelligence has dominated business agendas. At most organizations, the work has been largely internal, where leaders have focused on boosting efficiency and productivity.  Cognizant newest research study is focused on consumer use of AI and it shows that consumers who embrace AI could drive up to 55% of spending by 2030.

• Consumer readiness to embrace AI throughout their buyer journey
• How financial services industry compares to the rest of the world
• What banking products customers are most comfortable with for AI adoption
• What types of AI solutions consumers appreciate most
• Key opportunities for banks to enhance their customer experience with AI-powered journeys.

• Navigating the Payments Revolution: Explore the unprecedented pace of innovation in payments and transaction banking, from real-time payments to embedded finance, and Australia’s real time payment leadership in a global context.
• Overcoming Adoption Challenges: Delve into the human factors and competitive pressures hindering technology adoption, with insights on why businesses lag behind consumers in embracing banking technology and how to bridge this gap.
• Customer-Centric Strategies for Success: How can banks transform customer needs into actionable solutions through experimentation, specialised teams, and deep engagement, ensuring banks remain trusted advisors in an invisible banking future.

• Banking Built on Behaviour: How customer analytics are redefining banking products and shaping the future of financial services.
• Tech that Connects: How innovative tools are transforming engagement and creating seamless, personalised customer experiences.
• Keeping Customers Close: With 15% of Australians likely to switch banks within a year, how can understanding customer lifecycles help in acquisition and retention?

• CX at the Core: How People First are redesigning digital platforms to deliver a more intuitive, customer-centric experience.
• Brand Reinvention: Exploring how technology will support a refreshed brand identity built on trust, simplicity, and service.
• Lessons in Transformation: Key takeaways from People First’s journey—balancing innovation with customer expectations and internal culture.