99% of Payment Leaders Use AI But 91% Fear It Could Backfire: Report

Nearly all payment industry leaders are deploying artificial intelligence in some form, but concerns over security, transparency and governance are running just as high, according to a new report by HCLTech.

The study -- Payments Industry: AI Everywhere, Trust Nowhere? -- conducted in collaboration with Wakefield Research among 600 senior executives across the US, UK and several European markets, found that 99 per cent of payment leaders already use AI in their operations or customer experience. At the same time, 91 per cent of them expressed concern about the risks of applying AI to payments, with 46 per cent saying they were “extremely” or “very” concerned.

One of the biggest anxieties is around agentic AI digital assistants -- systems that can act autonomously on behalf of users. While nearly all leaders acknowledged their growing relevance, 99 per cent voiced unease about their implications. The most common worry relates to data privacy and security vulnerabilities for 42 per cent of the respondents, followed by risks tied to integration with legacy systems (40 per cent) and the impact on customer trust and experience (40 per cent).

Executives also highlighted the dangers of biased or inaccurate decision-making by AI agents (38 per cent) and the cost and complexity of implementation (38 per cent).

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The report underscores a broader paradox in the industry: while AI is now deeply embedded in payment systems, confidence in its resilience is shaky. AI hallucinations—misleading transaction outputs—were cited as a new risk by 42 per cent of respondents, while 40 per cent pointed to synthetic fraud such as identity spoofing and deepfakes, and 39 per cent flagged data leakage from weak AI governance.

Governance gaps remain significant. Almost 47 per cent of surveyed companies lack formal AI policies or guidelines, raising questions over how institutions are preparing to manage risks in a sector where customer trust is central.

Despite the concerns, the appetite for innovation remains strong. A majority (58 per cent) of executives said they prefer bold adoption of new methods such as digital wallets, instant payments and AI-integrated processes, compared with 42 per cent who favour incremental improvements to legacy systems.

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However, regional attitudes diverge: in Europe, 57 per cent of respondents said they prefer improving existing methods that customers trust, rather than pivoting to newer solutions.

The findings highlight the tightrope payment firms must walk, balancing efficiency gains from AI with the responsibility to safeguard transactions. Executives see AI as both an enabler of leap-frogging efficiency and a potential source of risk. Without a stronger governance foundation, the payments industry risks undermining the very security it seeks to provide.