Our reflections from CPI Europe Summit 2026. 

By Ane Unamuno (Senior Manager) 

As I do most years, I spent last week at the CPI Europe Summit in London, alongside a mix of banks, networks, fintechs and corporates. What I always find most fascinating about the event is hearing how different parts of the ecosystem are thinking about and tackling the same set of challenges. This year was no different, and here are the themes that stood out most to me.

Embedded finance is moving into day-to-day workflows

A consistent theme across the sessions I attended was how payment capabilities are being built into the systems businesses already use to run their operations.

There was a lot of discussion around ERP systems, accounting platforms and procurement tools becoming the natural place for payments to happen. From a user perspective, this makes sense. Finance teams want to complete tasks in one place, rather than moving between systems.

What this means in practice is that payment providers are having to think more carefully about how their products integrate into these environments. API quality, ease of integration and the ability to support specific workflows came up repeatedly in conversations.

It feels like a shift that is well underway, but one that still requires significant investment to get right.

Fintechs continue to build momentum in specific areas

There was also a noticeable focus on the role fintechs are playing, particularly in areas like expense management and SME financial tools.

What stood out to me was how targeted many of these solutions are. Rather than trying to cover the full range of financial services, they tend to focus on solving a narrower set of problems in a more tailored way. This mirrors what I’ve seen more broadly, specialisation is often where fintechs can move fastest and deliver value.

At the same time, several conversations touched on how fragmented the landscape has become for SMEs. Many businesses are now using multiple providers across payments, banking and financial operations. There was some discussion around whether this will continue, or whether there will be a move toward more consolidated platforms over time.

Vertical-specific solutions are gaining more attention

Another theme that came through clearly was the importance of aligning payment solutions to the needs of specific industries.

Different sectors operate with their own procurement processes, regulatory requirements and payment cycles. As a result, generic solutions can struggle to fit into existing ways of working. This is something that has regularly come up in our conversations with financial decision makers at businesses - industry expertise, vertical-specific solutions and tailored approaches are becoming increasingly important.

There were a few examples shared, including healthcare, where more tailored approaches can better support complex processes. The general sentiment was that providers who take the time to understand these sector-specific requirements are likely to see stronger adoption.

E-Invoicing is starting to influence payment conversations

E-invoicing came up in the context of regulatory developments across Europe, but the conversation often went beyond compliance.

Several speakers highlighted how structured invoice data and more standardised workflows could make it easier to connect invoicing and payment processes. This has implications for reconciliation, automation and the potential to embed payments more directly into invoice flows.

There was also some discussion about how this could support the use of virtual cards, particularly where payments can be tied more closely to individual invoices.

Virtual cards continue to be a focus area

Virtual cards were discussed in a number of sessions, particularly in relation to their potential to improve payment visibility and simplify reconciliation.

At the same time, many of the conversations came back to the practicalities of adoption. For virtual cards to scale, they need to be accepted more widely across suppliers, and better integrated into existing business processes.

There are efforts underway to address this, including supplier enablement initiatives and developing tools to help buyers identify which suppliers accept card payments. However, it still feels like an area where progress depends on coordination across multiple parts of the ecosystem.

Supplier acceptance remains a constraint

Supplier acceptance was one of the most consistent themes throughout the event.

What stood out to me is that this is not just a financial vs. value one. In many cases, it comes down to how suppliers perceive card payments. In conversations I’ve had with suppliers, concerns around cost and operational change tend to come up quickly, even when there are clear downstream benefits.

For suppliers, accepting cards introduces additional costs or requires changes to existing processes. Even where there are benefits, such as faster access to funds or improved reconciliation, these are not always clearly understood.

There was a sense that the industry has historically focused more on the needs of buyers, and that more attention now needs to be given to the supplier side of the equation.

Economics and incentives are part of the solution

Linked to this, there were a number of discussions around how to better adjust cost burdens to encourage supplier acceptance.

Some of the approaches mentioned included dynamic interchange models that improve acceptance economics and different ways of structuring fees so that the value exchange is clearer for suppliers.

The underlying point was that adoption is more likely when suppliers can see a tangible benefit, rather than just a change in how they receive payments.

Integration continues to be a practical challenge

Although there is a lot of advanced technology available, integration remains a common challenge.

Many organisations are working with legacy systems that are not designed to support newer payment methods or more embedded workflows. Limited API connectivity between different parts of the value chain can also slow down implementation.

This creates a situation where new capabilities exist, but can take time and effort to deploy in practice.

Cards and account-to-account payments will coexist

There was also some discussion around account-to-account payment models.

While these are gaining interest, several speakers pointed out that there are still use cases where card-based payments offer advantages, particularly in more complex transaction scenarios e.g. processing partial refunds, supporting travel-related transactions such as hotel reservations.

The general view was that different payment methods will continue to serve different needs, rather than one replacing the other entirely.

And no reflections piece would be complete with a mention of AI...

Of course AI also came up in a lot of conversations, including the growing interest in more agentic use cases - where systems can take on more of the decision-making or operational tasks themselves. It’s still early, but there’s a sense that this could start to reshape how processes are managed end-to-end. More broadly, it feels like AI will increasingly influence different parts of commercial payments, even if exactly how that plays out is still evolving. 

Final thoughts

Overall, the event reinforced the sense that commercial payments is evolving across multiple fronts at once.

There is clear progress in areas like embedded finance, fintech innovation and regulatory-driven change. At the same time, some of the more structural challenges, particularly around supplier acceptance and system integration, continue to influence how quickly new approaches can scale.

One thing the summit really highlighted for me is how hard it’s becoming to keep track of everything that’s going on. There’s a lot of movement, new players, changing customer expectations, shifting regulations, emerging technologies, and it’s not always easy to see what actually matters versus what’s just noise.

That’s where having a solid view of the market becomes really important. Understanding what competitors are doing, how corporates are thinking, and where the industry is heading makes a big difference when it comes to making decisions. Without that, it’s easy to either move too slowly or focus on the wrong things.

If you'd like to hear more about CPI Europe Summit 2026 or discuss what these trends mean for the future of your business, connect with Ane Unamuno and drop her a message.