Sibos Miami 2026: Four Takeaways for Banks and Credit Unions

I recently joined Kooltra as President to lead our expansion across the United States. I spent my first days in the role at Sibos in Miami alongside Adam Katz, our founder and CEO. After more than three decades in FX, electronic trading, and financial markets technology, I went to Sibos listening for one audience in particular: the banks and credit unions that want to offer FX and cross-border payments to their business clients.

Here are four things I took away: faster payments are putting pressure on trust; agentic AI in payments is moving from theory to practice; stablecoins drew more talk than implementation detail; and there is a shortage of payments expertise in smaller banks and credit unions.

Faster payments are putting pressure on trust

Technology is moving money faster than ever, and that speed can work against trust. The question was how to automate payments without weakening the controls that make them safe, and how to automate KYC and client onboarding the same way.

For a financial institution, trust isn't a feature you add at the end. When a payment settles in seconds, the checks have to happen just as fast: who the client is, who they're paying, and whether the payment makes sense. The institutions that get this right will be the ones that put clean client data and clear controls in place before they turn up the speed.

Agentic AI in payments is moving from theory to practice

The largest banks are looking to put agentic AI to work — they're not just talking about it, especially for initiating and settling payments.

The part that matters most for banks is the guardrails. An AI agent that can initiate a payment needs the same discipline we expect from people: clear limits, good data, and a human who approves the decisions that count. The banks that implement these controls will move fastest, and with the least financial and reputational risk.

We're working through the same questions at Kooltra. Our engineering team has reorganized around AI: AI agents do the bulk of the implementation work against an agreed specification, and our engineers review every output, own the judgment calls, and keep security controls in place at every step. Seeing that discipline from the inside has shaped how I think about agentic AI in payments. The speed only pays off with clear rules and a person accountable for what matters.

Stablecoins and CBDCs: plenty of talk, less on implementation

There was a lot of talk about stablecoins and central bank digital currencies. What I found less of was details on how institutions are actually putting them to work.

That matters, especially for community and regional banks. Their business clients need to pay a supplier in euros or run payroll across borders today, and they'll take that business wherever it's easiest. New rails will keep coming. The banks that serve their clients well now, and keep their data and compliance in order, will be best placed to add whatever comes next.

The quiet theme: a shortage of payments experts

This wasn't a headline topic, but it came up in a sidebar conversation and stayed with me. RedCompass Labs' research on US banks puts numbers to it: nearly every bank they surveyed sees a widening gap between small and large banks, and 58% blame a shortage of payments experts for it.

That gap is exactly where Kooltra works. Many smaller banks and credit unions don't have a dedicated FX desk or a deep bench of payments specialists. They shouldn't have to choose between saying no to their business clients and sending them somewhere else. They need technology and FX expertise together, with people on the other end of the phone who've done this before.

What's next

Behind all four takeaways is a bigger shift, and it's why I'm here. Every financial institution will need to offer multi-currency accounts, currency conversion, and FX trading and risk management as a core competency, not a bolt-on. They're foundational to attracting deposits and keeping commercial clients. Gaps in what institutions offer have been one of the main drivers of fintech success over the past decade. With Kooltra's technology and the right expertise, banks and credit unions across the US can run FX in-house, grow non-interest income, and outperform their peers in the decade ahead. Read more about our view in the announcement of my appointment.

Next, we're meeting with banks and credit unions across the US to hear what they need to compete on cross-border payments. If you'd like to be part of that, I'd welcome it.

Book a conversation with our team, or connect with me on LinkedIn.