Persistent inflation, regional conflicts, geopolitical instability, and the rapid evolution of fraud are bearing down simultaneously on consumers and businesses, and the institutions serving them are under growing pressure to respond.
Consumers and businesses value the role of financial institutions in driving growth and resilience; however, trust in their affordability, fraud protection, and digital service quality remains fragile.
Rising financial concerns across Europe
In 2026 so far, consumers and businesses have been on the back foot, scaling back spending and revising plans against a backdrop they expect to worsen before it improves.
Last year, three-quarters (74%) of Europeans said they had financial worries about the coming 12 months and this year the figure has risen again to nearly eight in ten (78%), approaching levels closer to the end of the pandemic.
More than a third of consumers (35%) expect to have less money left at the end of each month over the next year, rising to 39% in the UK.
Spending pressure is rising, especially in the UK
Half (50%) of European consumers say they now plan to reduce their spending over the next 12 months, with those in Ireland (58%), Italy (56%) and the UK (55%) the most likely to cut back, while just 12% have ambitions to increase their spending.
Confidence is under pressure
While trust in financial providers broadly remains, confidence in delivery is fragile amidst ongoing economic shocks.
More than half (57%) of consumers believe that financial providers have a duty to offer affordable products during times of hardship, yet only 29% think providers are doing enough to support financial wellbeing during these uncertain times.
The growing challenge for financial providers
Financial providers now need to recognize these external factors not as background noise, but as the central challenge consumers and businesses expect them to help navigate.
Six in ten (61%) consumers believe that the financial services sector plays an important role in their country’s economic growth, with the figure highest in the UK (69%).
In the UK, only 60% of consumers say they can still liaise with a real person when applying for products, the lowest proportion in Europe.
Download the report
The research findings form part of CRIF’s 2026 Banking on Banks report series. Discover how consumers and businesses across the UK, Ireland, Italy, Germany and Poland are responding to financial pressure, and how well they see financial providers responding to and supporting them during this difficult, uncertain period.
