Agentic Commerce: China’s Lead, Europe’s Choice
AI agents are no longer just helping consumers shop — they are starting to shop for them. As commerce shifts from clicks to delegation, the rules of visibility, discovery, and competitiveness are being rewritten in real time. China is already showing how fast AI-driven commerce can move when intent, payments, and execution converge inside connected digital ecosystems. This whitepaper explores what Europe can learn from China’s lead, why the merging battle over commerce protocols matters, and what businesses need to do now to stay relevant in the next era of ecommerce.
Finance 2040 begins with the questions we dare to ask
AI agents won't just change how we shop. They will change who makes decisions, how trust is built and where value is created in commerce.
As agents increasingly act on our behalf, the real battleground moves beyond the user interface to the hidden trust layer underneath: identity, permissions, payments and accountability. The question is no longer who has the smartest AI, but who can build the most trusted environment for delegated decisions.
In Fintech 2040, we explore what this shift means for consumers, businesses and financial services — and why Europe has a unique opportunity to shape its own path.
Andreas Barth
CEO | Riverty
The Fintech 2040 AI Series
Artificial intelligence is no longer a feature of finance and commerce. It is becoming the infrastructure. With its upcoming AI Series, Fintech 2040 explores how increasingly autonomous, agent-driven systems will reshape credit, commerce, and brands – and what this means for fairness, accountability, and trust.
Across three upcoming position papers, Riverty examines how AI is moving from decision-support to decision-making, and why human-centric design choices now matter more than ever:
The Fintech 2040 paper offers a comprehensive roadmap for navigating the coming transformation of financial services.
AI agents are no longer just helping consumers shop — they are starting to shop for them.
Meet the experts
Professor of Digital Leadership at Mediadesign University Berlin (MD.H). Roland specializes in digital transformation, AI integration, and the future of consumer markets, with a strong focus on how AI is reshaping business models and commerce ecosystems.
Product Development Lead – BNPL at Riverty. Alexander leads the development and scaling of Buy Now, Pay Later solutions across Europe, helping shape payment experiences for more than 40 million consumers and 20,000 merchants across 10 markets.
Fintech 2040 insights
Fintech 2040 is a space for examining how financial services may evolve over the next decade. It brings together research, analysis, and informed perspectives on the structural shifts shaping the future of finance.
Frequently Asked Questions
According to the Fintech 2040 whitepaper, finance in 2040 will be driven by AI, embedded into daily life, and protected by quantum-grade security. At Riverty, we see this as an opportunity to enhance how we support our customers.Traditional banks will fade into background infrastructure while financial services blend seamlessly into everyday experiences across e-commerce, mobility, healthcare, and beyond. AI assistants will proactively manage finances with emotional intelligence, and hyper-personalization will replace one-size-fits-all banking models. This transformation isn’t just about technology – it’s about creating financial experiences that truly empower people and businesses.
At Riverty, we believe finance should evolve through collaboration. That’s why we partnered on Fintech 2040 – to shape a future where financial services work better for people and businesses alike. As your payment companion, we’re creating a think tank where forward-looking professionals can collectively explore and shape the future of financial services. We believe the fintech ecosystem of 2040 won’t be defined by any one company – it will emerge from the ideas we dare to explore together. This paper marks the first step in an ongoing journey of position papers, roundtables, and cross-industry dialogues that will help businesses not just prepare for what's coming, but actively co-create it.
As your trusted payment companion, Riverty is committed to exploring topics that will directly impact your business and customers. Our upcoming Fintech 2040 blog series will explore emotion-aware AI in financial decision-making, decentralized models of trust and authority, embedded finance that makes banking invisible, consumer data sovereignty in financial ecosystems, quantum computing applications beyond security, and next-generation approaches to financial inclusion. Each publication reflects our human-centric approach, providing actionable insights for businesses navigating these transformative trends.
Riverty believes AI should enhance human experiences, not replace them. By 2040, AI will deliver hyper-personalized financial services, acting as personal finance sidekicks that proactively manage budgets, investments, and risk. These systems will understand not just financial data but emotional states and life circumstances, enabling them to offer contextually relevant guidance. This human-centric approach to AI aligns with our commitment to empowering both businesses and consumers. AI will automate routine financial tasks while also enhancing complex decision-making through predictive analytics and behavioral insights, fundamentally changing how consumers interact with financial services – from reactive transactions to proactive optimization of financial well-being.
At Riverty, we’re monitoring several key technologies that will help us better serve as your payment companion.These include AI, embedded finance, decentralized finance (DeFi), quantum computing, and programmable money. AI will enable personalization and automation at unprecedented scale. Embedded finance will integrate financial services into non-financial platforms. Our focus remains on how these technologies can empower both businesses and users, creating a more distributed, invisible, and intelligent financial ecosystem that operates seamlessly across industry boundaries while maintaining trust and human connection.
Providing peace of mind is central to Riverty’s mission, which is why we’re exploring quantum encryption. This technology will protect financial data and transactions against future cyber threats, ensuring secure and trustworthy interactions. Financial institutions are 300x more likely to be targeted by cyber attacks than companies in other industries, making advanced security essential. We believe that trust is the foundation of every financial relationship, which is why quantum-resistant protocols will be crucial for maintaining digital trust as technology evolves. This security foundation will enable confident adoption of increasingly automated and embedded financial services by addressing one of the primary concerns of consumers and regulators alike.
If you’re looking to provide better financial experiences for your customers, this whitepaper is for you. Fintech leaders, C-level decision-makers, AI and innovation teams, and tech investors looking to stay ahead of disruption will find valuable insights in the Fintech 2040 whitepaper. As your payment companion, Riverty has designed this research to be practical and forward-thinking, offering guidance for product and UX leads in fintech, banking transformation managers, financial service designers, and executives responsible for digital strategy. Regulators and policy professionals will also find an important perspective on how technological change might reshape financial governance and inclusion. Anyone interested in how technology will transform financial experiences over the next 15 years will discover actionable intelligence in this research.