As Fraud, AI and Credit Risk Rise, Banks Are Seeking a New Set of Skills 

Credit standards are tightening, payment rails are speeding up, fraud is becoming harder to contain, and AI is moving from the sidelines into the daily operating system of the bank. In this evolving landscape, commercial lenders, treasury management officers, risk leaders, compliance officers, wealth advisors, trust officers, and executives are the people that have the potential to make the biggest impact.  

In order to evolve with the industry, the people in these roles need to update their skillset to match the needs of the new age of banking. 

Commercial lenders need sharper credit judgment. Treasury management officers need payments, liquidity, and fraud awareness. Risk and compliance leaders need data fluency and risk-based decision-making. Wealth and trust professionals need advisory depth and relationship discipline. Banking executives need to lead through credit pressure, technology change, regulatory expectations, and client retention at the same time. 

Each of these roles has the potential to help companies adapt and thrive in a changing environment. But the success of each role depends on the skills that you’re looking for when you’re hiring. 

Banking Industry Trends Changing the Hiring Criteria 

Banking hiring criteria are changing because the pressures shaping the industry are now tied directly to the roles banks depend on for growth, risk control, client relationships, and operational stability. These are not abstract market trends. They are changing what banks need from commercial lenders, treasury management officers, credit leaders, compliance teams, fraud specialists, wealth advisors, and executives. 

Trend	Roles Affected	Hiring Criteria Changes
Tighter commercial lending standards	Commercial lenders, C&I relationship managers, credit officers, portfolio managers	Banks still need loan growth, but lenders now need stronger credit judgment, borrower-quality assessment, and discipline around deal structure.
CRE refinancing risk	CRE lenders, chief credit officers, loan administration leaders, portfolio managers, special assets professionals	Banks need people who can monitor maturities, spot borrower stress earlier, manage documentation, and support tougher renewal or workout conversations.
Private credit competition	Commercial lenders, banking executives, credit leaders, relationship managers	Banks need talent that can compete for quality borrowers without chasing deals that fall outside the bank’s risk appetite.
Real-time payments growth	Treasury management officers, payments leaders, commercial bankers, deposit operations teams	Faster payments make treasury management more strategic, raising the need for payments fluency, liquidity advisory skills, fraud awareness, and client education.
Fraud spreading across channels	Fraud leaders, risk officers, compliance teams, treasury management, deposit operations, client-facing bankers	Fraud now touches checks, cards, wires, ACH, account takeover, faster payments, and digital banking, so banks need people who can coordinate across departments.
AI adoption in banking operations	Executives, risk leaders, compliance officers, operations leaders, digital banking teams, relationship managers	AI increases the need for data fluency, governance awareness, judgment, and the ability to use automation without weakening oversight.
AML and CDD modernization	Compliance officers, BSA/AML leaders, financial crimes teams, operations leaders	Compliance is moving toward more risk-based decision-making, so banks need leaders who can protect the institution and adapt to changes quickly.
Fee-income pressure	Wealth advisors, trust officers, private bankers, investment officers, banking executives	Banks need stronger wealth and trust talent because advisory relationships, fiduciary services, and private banking can support revenue beyond spread income.
Bank consolidation and M&A	C-suite leaders, market presidents, commercial banking executives, credit leaders, operations leaders	Consolidation raises the need for leaders who can retain clients, align credit culture, manage integration, and keep teams steady through change.

The result is a different standard for evaluating banking candidates.  

A commercial lender’s production history still matters, but banks also need to know how that lender protects credit quality in a tighter market.  

A treasury management officer still needs product knowledge, but faster payments and fraud risk make advisory ability more important. 

A compliance leader still needs regulatory experience, but today’s environment requires stronger judgment around data, systems, financial crime, and business impact. 

Experience in the industry still matters, but banks now need to know whether that experience fits the risks, technology, customer expectations, and regulatory pressures shaping the role today. 

Tighter Credit Conditions Are Changing Commercial Lending and Credit Roles 

In the April 2026 Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey, the Federal Reserve reported tighter lending standards and basically unchanged demand for commercial and industrial loans to firms of all sizes during the first quarter of 2026. Banks also reported basically unchanged lending standards and weaker or basically unchanged demand for commercial real estate loans.  

The OCC’s Spring 2026 Semiannual Risk Perspective adds another layer. The OCC said credit risk remains manageable in aggregate, but credit conditions and refinancing risk in some commercial real estate segments and private credit markets require ongoing monitoring.  

That environment changes what you need from commercial lenders, C&I relationship managers, CRE lenders, SBA lenders, chief credit officers, portfolio managers, and credit analysts. A strong producer still has value, but production without credit judgment can create problems that show up later in the portfolio. 

The skills worth testing more closely include:  

• Underwriting judgment 

• Deal structuring 

• Borrower-quality assessment 

• CRE refinancing awareness 

• Portfolio monitoring 

• Collaboration with credit and loan administration 

You need lenders who can find growth opportunities without chasing risky deals. 

CRE Refinancing Pressure Is Increasing the Value of Portfolio and Loan Administration Talent 

Commercial lending risk doesn’t sit with just the lender. When loans mature in a different rate environment than the one in which they originated, portfolio visibility becomes more valuable. Banks need clean loan files, accurate documentation, strong covenant monitoring, timely renewal tracking, and early awareness of borrower stress. 

That makes portfolio managers, loan administration leaders, credit administration professionals, special assets professionals, and workout officers more important than before. You need people who can manage maturities, monitor exceptions, support collateral review, track borrower performance, and communicate clearly with lenders and credit officers. 

Real-Time Payments Are Changing Treasury Management Hiring 

Treasury management is also becoming more strategic. The Clearing House reported that the RTP network set a single-day record on May 1, 2026, processing 2.27 million transactions worth $8.62B. The release also noted corporate treasury use cases such as cash concentration, portfolio rebalancing, and large supplier or vendor payments.  

That matters for treasury management officers, payments leaders, deposit strategy leaders, treasury implementation teams, and commercial banking relationship managers. Clients want faster money movement, better visibility, safer payment workflows, and clearer control over liquidity. 

The modern treasury management officer needs fluency in: 

• Instant payments 

• Working capital 

• Commercial payment workflows 

• Implementation complexity 

• Fraud exposure 

• Deposit strategy 

• Digital onboarding 

A TMO who only knows the product offerings may struggle when clients want advice on how faster payments affect cash flow, reconciliation, fraud controls, and vendor relationships. 

For hiring, product familiarity is the bare minimum. What you really need to know is whether the person can help commercial clients understand how payments, liquidity, deposits, and risk fit together. 

Fraud Pressure Is Making Risk, Operations, and Treasury Roles More Connected 

Fraud has become one of the most direct links between banking trends and hiring needs. Federal Reserve Financial Services’ 2026 Risk Officer Report found growing concern around account takeover and credential-driven fraud. The report said account takeover fraud is emerging as a growing risk, with a 7% increase in institutions reporting that an unauthorized party took over an account. It also reported that no surveyed institutions saw declines across fraud categories defined by the FraudClassifier model.  

Fraud now affects more than the fraud department. It touches treasury management, deposit operations, digital banking, BSA/AML, compliance, internal audit, branch teams, and client-facing bankers. Faster payments can improve client experience, but speed also changes the timeline for detecting and responding to suspicious activity. To combat fraud wholistically, you need people who can coordinate across systems and teams.  

Fraud leaders need pattern recognition and payment-risk awareness.  

Operations leaders need process discipline and escalation judgment.  

Treasury teams need enough fraud fluency to advise commercial clients without creating unnecessary fear or friction. 

Loose controls expose the bank and the customer. Burdensome controls can frustrate activity and damage relationships. The best candidates understand that fraud control is also a customer-confidence issue. 

AI Is Raising the Standard for Banking Judgment 

AI is changing workflows in banking, but the hiring issue is less about replacing people and more about raising the standard for the people closest to judgment-heavy decisions. 

KPMG reports that 61% of institutions place GenAI among their top investment priorities, with adoption especially advanced in cybersecurity and fraud. KPMG also notes that banks are dealing with data quality, legacy integration, privacy, and risk challenges as they modernize. The OCC has also pointed to advanced AI tools in cybersecurity and the need to understand both their benefits and possible risks.  

Executives, risk leaders, compliance officers, operations leaders, digital banking leaders, internal audit teams, commercial lenders, and relationship managers are all affected by the adoption of AI systems. Not every candidate needs to be an AI specialist, but you do need people who can work where AI, automation, analytics, and data quality shape decisions. While AI can improve workflows tremendously, human judgement is still key to success. 

The skills to look for when choosing candidates involved in AI processes include: 

• Data-informed decision-making 

• Ability to question and adjust AI-supported outputs 

• AI governance awareness 

• Change leadership 

• Process-improvement discipline 

• Judgment when exceptions fall outside automated workflows 

Banks need people who can use technology without handing accountability over to it. 

Regulatory Modernization Is Changing Compliance Leadership 

Compliance roles are also shifting. FinCEN issued exceptive relief from certain Customer Due Diligence requirements in February 2026, relieving covered financial institutions from identifying and verifying the beneficial owners of a legal entity customer each time that customer opens a new account. FinCEN said the action supports a more efficient, risk-based approach while maintaining safeguards against illicit finance. Covered institutions still have ongoing monitoring and suspicious activity obligations under the Bank Secrecy Act.  

Chief compliance officers, BSA/AML officers, financial crimes leaders, internal audit leaders, and risk executives need to work with systems, data, business lines, operations, and regulators. They need documentation discipline, but they also need enough business fluency to explain why a control matters and where a process creates burden without reducing risk. 

Fee-Income Pressure Is Increasing the Importance of Wealth, Trust, and Private Banking Talent 

Wealth, trust, and private banking talent deserve closer attention. When banks are under pressure to defend margins and diversify fee income, advisory relationships become more valuable. Deloitte’s banking outlook specifically points to margin defense, fee-income diversification, and nonbank competition as issues banks need to manage.  

At the same time, technology is changing relationship dynamics between managers and clients. Capgemini’s Banking Top Trends 2026 shows that relationship managers in wealth management and banking are increasingly supported by agentic AI-powered tools and automation that unify client data, automate administrative workflows, and free RMs to focus on engagement and cross-selling.  

These changes in technology place a greater importance on wealth advisors, trust officers, private bankers, investment officers, fiduciary professionals, estate specialists, and wealth executives. Client interaction is more important than ever in these roles. Banks need to determine if a candidate can retain high-value relationships, coordinate with commercial or private banking teams, handle fiduciary complexity, and use client data without making the relationship feel mechanical. 

The strongest wealth and trust hires combine technical depth with a focus on maintain quality relationships. They can talk about estate planning, fiduciary responsibility, investment needs, family dynamics, succession, and broader financial goals without losing the client’s confidence. 

Bank Consolidation Is Raising the Standard for Executive and Market Leadership 

Executive banking roles are also carrying more weight in the current market. Consolidation, technology investment, changing payment rails, credit pressure, compliance expectations, and relationship retention all land on leadership. A bank president, market president, chief credit officer, chief operating officer, chief risk officer, or commercial banking executive has more risks to worry about than before. 

Today, banks need leaders that can: 

• Protect credit culture 

• Retain commercial relationships 

• Maintain confidence during change 

• Make disciplined decisions about talent, technology, and risk appetite 

In a merger, market expansion, or leadership transition, the public announcement is only the beginning. The real test is whether the bank keeps customers, lenders, advisors, and operational teams aligned after the change. 

To find candidates that can be successful in these leadership roles, you need confidential market access, a clear definition of the role, and the ability to evaluate whether the candidate’s judgment aligns with the bank’s current direction.  

Working with a specialized banking recruiter for these high-level roles can give you an advantage in your search. The Richmond Group USA’s banking division has worked on executive searches for banks across the US and can confidently help you find the talent you need. If you’re struggling to find the leader you need alone, reach out to our team to see how we can help. 

What Banks Should Reassess Before Starting a Banking Search 

Before you start a search for your next open banking role, define the role around the current pressure it needs to address. 

Start with these questions: 

• Which trend is changing the role: credit pressure, fraud, AI, faster payments, regulatory modernization, fee-income strategy, consolidation, or something else?  

• Which business outcome does the hire need to protect or grow?  

• Which old success markers may no longer be enough?  

• Which teams will this person need to influence?  

• Which risks will this person need to recognize early?  

• Does the search require confidential outreach or passive candidate access?  

• How will you test judgment, not just experience?  

Those questions help you avoid hiring candidates for a version of the role that no longer exists.  

A commercial lender needs to grow the right relationships.  

A treasury management officer needs to connect payments, liquidity, fraud, and client operations.  

A risk or compliance leader needs systems awareness and sound judgment.  

A wealth or trust professional needs advisory depth and relationship discipline.  

An executive needs to lead through change without losing control of credit, culture, or clients. 

The strongest banking candidates are not just people who have held the right title. They’re people whose skills match where banking is moving right now.