The Payments Landscape in 2026: Views from the MineralTree Team

As we forge ahead into a new year, January is often a time of reflection, evaluating what did and didn’t work the previous year, and making a new plan. As MineralTree gears up for 2026, we asked our teams in Product, Consulting, Services and Account Management to share what they see as some of the biggest trends likely to emerge in 2026.

AP modernization continues to accelerate

Two of our colleagues leaned in on business’ continued automation of their AP and payment processes.

“AP automation is very top of mind, but businesses and their vendors will need to justify the ROI and impact they have to close the deal. Mid-market companies on cloud ERPs have already automated parts of finance, so they’re looking for the next step. This includes replacing or consolidating existing software solutions.”

Branson Johnson
Senior Manager, Implementation Services

“Virtual card use will reach new levels, as companies realize the amount of revenue they are leaving on the table by NOT using them.”

Chris Aceti
Principal Account Executive 

Payments get further embedded 

The concept of “embedded finance” has really emerged in the last year and gained substantial traction in Accounts Payable specifically. Our Senior Product Marketing Manager, Anik Jain shared a few predictions.

“2026 will be the year embedded finance solutions take off. More teams are looking to take advantage of their cloud ERP’s data analysis and AI capabilities. This will push them to capture more back-office finance and accounting workflows natively within their ERP. This will allow AP teams to pay more suppliers directly from their ERP with secure digital payments. I also expect to see more innovation around embedded solutions for AR, banking/financing and cash flow management.” 

Anik Jain
Senior Product Marketing Manager

“The use of embedded payments and embedded AP tools will increase due to their enhanced ease-of-use. This consolidation of tools will strengthen security by limiting access points, while improving operational systems and user confidence by keeping approvals, controls, workflows, and payments all in one secure place.” 

Theresa Tompkins
Business Development Representative

“As companies invest more in cloud-based ERP, they’ll want to do more within the system to limit the number of different tools they have to manage. This will lead more companies to adopt ERP-based AP automation with embedded payment solutions. In addition to simplifying automation management, it will also support vendor consolidation and keep workflows centralized.”

Kalah Thomas
Sales Engineer

“Teams using on-premise accounting software don’t need to miss out on the benefits of automated workflows. If an ERP upgrade isn’t in the budget, smaller SMB and mid-market companies can still migrate some of their workflows to cloud-based AP automation solutions, using file-based syncing to maintain a single source of truth without any complex integration planning required.” 

Anik Jain
Senior Product Marketing Manager

AI becomes omnipresent in AP

We almost left AI out of our predictions because it’s part of almost every business article written these days. But there is no avoiding its impact in 2026.

“AI in AP will move from ‘nice to have’ to ‘need to have.’ CFO’s and Finance teams are under continuous pressure to “do more with less.” AI is the most impactful way to accomplish that and ensure businesses are gaining efficiencies, while delivering a payment experience that is best suited for both their finance teams and suppliers.”

Joseph Fortini
Vice President of Customer Success

“Cloud-based ERPs are rapidly evolving and outpacing on-premise solutions, adding new AI capabilities at a breakneck pace. But the AI is only as good as the data it has to work with. Some AP teams are using automation solutions with limited sync capabilities that force them to use a different source of truth for payables or other workflows. As more ERPs add embedded workflow options, I expect teams will opt to use these tools and keep their payables data in one place.”

Anik Jain
Senior Product Marketing Manager

“2026 will continue the rise and revolution of AI within all workspaces, including Accounts Payable. It will help employees and employers streamline their workplaces from day-to-day operations, future goals, and push through boundaries many did not think possible. Domestic and international companies continue to pour money into AI so it can’t be held back or ignored, no matter how much employers or employees may want to.”

John Carbone
Implementation Manager

Private Equity embraces more automation across portfolio companies 

MineralTree has worked with several PE firms looking to consolidate finance tech infrastructure for their portfolio companies.  

“Private Equity-backed companies focused on M&A Activity will adopt more ERP-native tools to bolster their tech stack. They will focus on increasing their utilization of common AI and automation solutions to avoid the need for additional overhead and headcount. This will translate to increased interest in, and adoption of, embedded payment solutions.” 

Jared Grillo
Mid-Market Account Executive

“In 2026, I predict that PE firms will begin to make more investments in data center cooling. They may use eco-friendly approaches and could potentially tie in their investments within the HVAC space to fuel growth and synergism. AI is the future and PE firms want to be players. We know PE firms have already invested into adjacent businesses that could be tied together elegantly when it comes to data center cooling.”

Mike Lamie
Senior Account Executive, Mid-Market