3 Trends Shaping the Future of Payments

The payments landscape is shifting rapidly as payment options expand, consumers increasingly demand personalized experiences, and agentic AI promises to revolutionize commerce. Across these developments, a common theme is emerging: Control over payments is shifting toward consumers and automation.

PULSE has identified three overarching trends that encompass the various payments innovations underway. Debit leaders are keeping a close eye on these developments and, in many cases, implementing related changes in their organizations.

1. Consumers’ payment and currency options are expanding.

The number of available payment options continues to expand, driven in part by consumers’ growing appetite for speed, ease, and convenience. The days of cash, check, credit, and automated clearing house (ACH) being the only options are well behind us, with consumers and businesses now using payment methods such as digital wallets, account-to-account transfers, and Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) services.

Emerging payment options include virtual cards, real-time payments, and pay by bank services. Pay by bank enables consumers to bypass traditional payment cards and pay merchants directly from their bank accounts.

Pay-by-Bank is predominantly limited to transactions such as bill payments and account transfers at present. Significant questions remain, including its impact on issuer and merchant revenue and costs, and consumers’ comfort with sharing their bank account information.

Another emerging trend in payments is stablecoin payments. Stablecoins combine the instantaneous, borderless aspects of cryptocurrency with the stability of fiat currencies, allowing consumers to use cryptowallet funds easily and conveniently. A September 2025 survey of financial institution executives by Ernst & Young estimates that stablecoins could account for 5-10% of global payments by 2030.

One of the considerations with stablecoin payments is the lack of chargeback capability. Like other blockchain-based payments, stablecoin transactions are irrevocable, but receiving entities can choose to issue a refund.

The GENIUS Act, passed in July 2025, established a regulatory framework for stablecoin payments. The next step is for federal and state regulators to issue rules to implement those laws. In addition, the Digital Asset Market CLARITY Act of 2025 – currently undergoing Senate committee mark-up – aims to establish a clear regulatory framework for cryptocurrency and digital assets.

As issuers consider which of the new payment and currency options to enable, they should focus on account holders’ desire for convenience and ease and the implications of any potential changes on their current operations.

2. Younger consumers are redefining the payments and banking experience

Younger consumers are influencing what modern money management feels like. They prefer digital wallets and consistently outpace the broader market in use of tools such as biometric checkout, digital wallets, BNPL, and cryptocurrency, according to an article by Sean Gelles of J.D. Power in The Financial Brand. They’re also showing greater usage of pay-by-bank.

Digital-first banks and fintechs are often early movers in the race to implement new payments and banking technologies. Neobanks are growing at a compound annual rate of 13%, according to a Simon-Kucher report, Neobanking beyond disruption.

Fifty-two percent of customers are satisfied with their primary neobank, compared with 40% for large and national banks. The driving forces behind this increased satisfaction are low fees, transparent terms, and simple digital onboarding – features that traditional institutions should consider adding to their account offerings.

Simon-Kucher suggests that incumbent institutions should adopt some of the operating principles that allow leading neobanks to “scale faster, engage customers more deeply, and monetize more effectively.”

"Unlocking your inner unicorn requires more than digital ambition. It requires translating these operating principles into clear commercial choices – from product design and pricing to organization, technology, and ways of working.”

Simon-Kucher report, Neobanking beyond disruption

3. Agentic AI is revolutionizing commerce.

The traditional digital banking model in which staff or customers initiate virtually every action is reaching maturity, and agentic AI is the force behind this transformation. This is the view expressed by David Shipper, a Strategic Advisor with Datos Insights, in a recent PULSE webinar.

Shipper expects more banks and credit unions to use agentic AI to enhance the customer experience by increasing personalization and automating customer activities. Consider enabling autonomous agents across every layer, from account opening, query resolution, and payment rail optimization to fraud pattern detection, risk scoring, and analytics.

“Every FI should find ways to test and incorporate agentic AI into their organization. It’s not a fad – it’s how the next generation of financial services winners and losers will be decided.”

David Shipper, Strategic Advisor, Datos Insights

According to Datos, the industry should expect to see a surge in new solution providers and announcements from issuers that are using and testing agentic AI to add efficiencies to their workflows.

Strategic consideration is imperative

As payment technologies shift and expand, financial institutions must ask themselves five key questions when evaluating new solutions:

1. How will the change affect the customer experience?
2. How will it impact operational efficiency?
3. What are the regulatory and security implications?
4. Is our current infrastructure able to support the change?
5. Will this create net new volume or cannibalize existing payment volume?

Fully understanding the implications of each change on your existing operations and performance will help organizations make the best choices and decisions for your customers and your organization’s success.