German embedded finance Fintech Solaris is eliminating roughly 80 positions—about 20 percent of its 400-strong workforce—as it repositions itself as Europe’s first AI-native bank. The Berlin-based company, which holds a full banking license and provides white-label banking services, announced the restructuring on March 25, 2026, under the leadership of CEO Steffen Jentsch.
Backed by its majority shareholder, Japan’s SBI Group, Solaris plans to rebuild its platform around artificial intelligence, automating core operations while keeping humans in charge of oversight and governance.
The shift marks the latest chapter in Solaris’s ongoing transformation.
Once a high-profile player in European banking-as-a-service, the firm has faced prior challenges, including earlier job reductions and a rescue funding round.
Jentsch, who assumed the top role just months ago, aims to expand Solaris’s embedded finance offerings into a pan-European infrastructure where AI handles routine processes such as onboarding, compliance checks, and product development.
The goal is faster, more scalable operations that leverage AI agents for efficiency without sacrificing control.
This aggressive AI pivot mirrors a broader wave of cost-cutting across fintech.
In February 2026, Block Inc.—parent of Square and Cash App—slashed nearly 4,000 roles, or about 40 percent of its global workforce of over 10,000.
CEO Jack Dorsey framed the move as a direct response to productivity leaps from advanced AI tools, claiming smaller teams could achieve more.
Shares surged in response, but the abrupt layoffs drew criticism from employees who argued that AI could not fully replicate complex tasks involving regulatory nuance or customer relationships.
In a telling sign of second thoughts, Block quietly rehired a small number of laid-off workers in the weeks that followed.
Other recent cuts have hit the sector hard. Firms including Morgan Stanley, Capital One, and Oracle announced significant reductions in early 2026, often citing efficiency drives amid economic pressures and technological change.
Yet the rush toward AI-first models has not always delivered smooth results. Swedish buy-now-pay-later leader Klarna offers a cautionary example.
After aggressively deploying AI to replace around 700 customer-service roles and halving its headcount from roughly 7,400 to 3,000 between 2022 and 2025, the company encountered widespread customer complaints about declining service quality.
Klarna’s CEO later acknowledged that an overemphasis on cost savings had compromised the experience, prompting a pivot to a hybrid approach.
The firm began rehiring human agents for complex cases and escalations, moving away from full automation in favor of blended human-AI support.
Solaris’s move highlights the fintech industry’s high-stakes bet on AI. Proponents argue that intelligent automation can unlock scalability and profitability in a competitive landscape strained by rising compliance costs.
Critics, however, point to the human and operational risks: talent loss, service disruptions, and the limits of current technology.
As Solaris embarks on its so-called AI-native journey, the coming months will test whether this strategy can avoid the pitfalls that have forced rivals to recalibrate. For the broader sector, the outcome may signal whether AI represents genuine transformation or merely a costly experiment in workforce reduction.