We Asked, You Answered: 5 Key Trends for H2 2025

Highlights:

• Businesses continue to face economic and industry changes, making adaptability and resilience crucial for strategic decisions.

• Organizations are focusing equally on acquiring new customers and nurturing existing client relationships for stable growth amidst market fluctuations.

• Artificial Intelligence is a top innovation for fintech businesses, as they explore its potential to enhance efficiency, improve customer experiences, and gain a competitive edge.

The second quarter of 2025 brought with it a series of insightful Market Pulse webinars, offering a valuable snapshot of the current economic climate and the prevailing sentiment among businesses. These webinars, attended by hundreds of professionals from diverse sectors including banking, credit unions, fintech, and mortgage & housing, unveiled key trends, opportunities, and, most importantly, the persistent challenges that organizations are grappling with. Each month during the Market Pulse webinar, we survey attendees from a wide range of industries to hear how they are feeling about market trends and how it's impacting their organization's strategy.

1. Uncertainty is the New Normal

Across all three Market Pulse Webinars in Q2, uncertainty consistently emerged as the primary pain point for attendees. This constant change is shaping strategic decisions and highlighting the need for increased adaptability and resilience in core business strategies.

The April Market Pulse webinar, which focused on challenges and opportunities surrounding small businesses, revealed that nearly half of respondents (48%) identified "monitoring economic and industry changes - and their implications for businesses" as their biggest challenge when it comes to commercial customers. This underscores the difficulty businesses face in predicting and adapting to a dynamic economic environment. Given this consistent theme, businesses must prioritize agility in decision-making and a willingness to pivot to navigate the "new normal" of uncertainty.

2. As Much of a Focus on Existing Accounts as on New Accounts

While new customer acquisition is often a key driver of growth, the Q2 webinars highlighted a balanced approach, with a significant emphasis also placed on nurturing existing client relationships in today's ever-changing market.

In the April webinar, attendees were asked, "Now that we're in Q2, what do you believe will be the primary driver of growth for your organization this year?" A clear majority of respondents, 63.6%, indicated that both new and existing accounts would be the primary driver of growth and 21.5% replied that they would focus solely on existing accounts.

This suggests that businesses are not solely focused on acquiring new customers but also recognize the immense value of retaining and growing their existing client base. This insight underscores the importance of customer retention and nurturing relationships to provide a stable foundation amidst market fluctuations.

3. Fintech May Be All In on AI

The May Market Pulse webinar, with its focus on economic shifts and emerging innovations in fintech, revealed a strong interest in technological advancements, particularly artificial intelligence (AI), in the industry.

When asked about which innovations in fintech were most top of mind for their business, a dominant 55.6% of respondents identified Artificial Intelligence (AI). The significant interest in AI suggests that businesses, especially within fintech, are exploring how emerging technologies can enhance efficiency, improve customer experiences, and provide a competitive edge, including adopting new approaches to underwriting and leveraging alternative data.

4. Confidence May Be Waning

The Q2 webinars indicated a potentially waning confidence regarding the overall economic outlook.

In the June Market Pulse webinar, attendees were asked about their confidence level regarding the economic outlook for the next 12 months and nearly half, 43.8%, answered "not very confident." An additional 29.1% were "neutral." This means a combined 72.9% of respondents were either not very confident or neutral about the economic outlook for the next 12 months. This clear lack of widespread confidence underscores the ongoing economic anxieties and the challenges businesses face in long-term planning.

5. Some May Be Looking to Change Their Plans

The Q2 webinars' attendees also hinted that organizations are actively assessing and potentially adjusting their strategic plans in response to the current economic environment.

During the May webinar, 33.9% of respondents, the largest segment, reported "staying the course and not making major changes," while a notable 17.5% reported a heavier reliance on data as they evaluate any potential major changes. This emphasizes the growing importance of data-driven decision-making in an uncertain environment. Furthermore, the remaining respondents declared that their organizations were actively seeking opportunities for growth (15.8%), pursuing their same goals on a longer timeline (13.6%), strengthening their ability to adapt or be resilient through investment in technology (10.2%), or postponing or declining any new significant investments (9%). This diverse set of responses reflects the varied strategies organizations are employing to weather the current economic climate.

Additionally, although a substantial majority planned to wait and see and hold steady, during the June webinar, a surprising 25.6% of poll respondents indicated that their organization is planning to increase their loan loss reserves, indicating their expectation for an increase in loan defaults.

The Q2 Market Pulse Webinars painted a clear picture of a business landscape marked by uncertainty, but also by a collective drive towards resilience and innovation. By understanding these shared pain points and leveraging the insights from their peers, businesses can develop more robust strategies to navigate the complexities of today's market.