Payments top trends 2025

Wealth Management - Seamless digital experience: Wealth firms are enhancing digital platforms to consolidate services and create seamless customer experiences [1] - Hyper-personalized advisory: AI enables made-to-order investment advice strategies, catering to individual client needs [1] - Bridging generation gaps: Wealth firms are adapting advice to resonate with high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) across all age groups, especially younger entrepreneurs [1] - Inorganic growth strategies: Wealth firms are seeking external expansion to broaden services and boost revenues [1] - Regulations drive ESG traceability: Wealth firms are implementing ESG asset transparency metrics as regulators standardize sustainability reporting [1] - Digital onboarding: Digital onboarding accelerates client acquisition, improves compliance, and boosts revenue through white-labeling [1] - Unified operating models: Wealth firms are unifying operating models to deliver a consistent experience for HNWIs across geographies [1] - Gen AI for relationship manager efficiency: Generative AI-powered copilots enhance relationship manager productivity [1] - Real-world asset tokenization: Blockchain-powered real-world asset tokens improve liquidity and access [1] - Cloud-native wealth management platforms: Cloud-native platforms enable scalable and cost-efficient wealth management processes [1] Retail Banking - Omnichannel experience: Retail banks are boosting customer experiences across digital platforms, contact centers, and branches [1] - Financial literacy: Financial literacy and personal budget apps are enhancing customer confidence and promoting financial inclusion [1] - Next-gen banking: Retail banks are targeting youth to secure long-term customer lifecycle growth [1] - Operational resilience: Digital operational resilience remains crucial for regulatory compliance [1] - RegTech for compliance: Intelligent RegTech solutions reduce compliance costs and timelines [1] - Deposit growth: Deposit growth continues to be a priority for retail banks, along with lowering funding costs [1] - Onboarding efficiency: Digital identity management is improving onboarding efficiency [1] - AI for efficiency gains: AI is driving productivity by reimagining customer and employee journeys [1] - ESG product strategy: Banks are implementing intelligent ESG product strategies and solutions [1] - Leveraging open finance: Open finance regulations enable retail banks to develop a 360-degree customer footprint [1] Payments - Open finance: Open-finance-based use cases are growing as regulators improve financial data access [1] - Instant payment adoption: Instant payment rails are cannibalizing checks and debit cards, while mobile wallets maintain dominance [1] - POS innovations: POS payment innovations enhance merchant acquisition capabilities and increase consumer credit options [1] - Cross-border payments: Multi-territory instant payment corridors are revolutionizing cross-border payments, offering speed and efficiency [1] - Cloud-based payment hubs: Cloud-based payment hubs provide unified and consolidated multi-rail payment processing capabilities [1] - Multi-rail payment strategy: Multi-rail strategies enhance payment flexibility and offer different payment methods in a single interface [1] - Operational resilience: Regulators are prioritizing operational resilience to foster trust in cashless markets and economies [1] - Decentralized identity: Decentralized digital identity management combats fraud and grants customers greater control over personal data [1] - Remittance transformation: Remittance transformation is reshaping the global financial landscape with plummeting costs and fast transfer times [1] - Data monetization: Payments data is driving innovation and creating new revenue streams [1] Capital Markets - Perpetual KYC revolution: Organizations are digitizing and automating KYC processes to reduce compliance costs and enhance customer experience [3] - Accelerating sustainable lending: Banks are leveraging sustainable finance as a growth engine [3] - Changing investment landscape: The market is shifting due to passive investing, retail investor growth, and geopolitical forces [3] - Efficiencies through collaboration: The industry is moving towards mutualization and strategic outsourcing to reduce post-trade processing costs [3] - Capital efficiency: Global uncertainty and regulatory shifts are driving organizations to focus on capital strategy [3] - Modernized resilient platforms: Legacy system limitations are driving capital markets organizations to modernize core systems [3] - DLT & tokenization: Distributed ledger technology (DLT) and tokenization are transforming the financial services industry [3] - Leveraging Generative AI: Capital markets organizations are using Gen AI to create actionable insights and efficiencies [3] - Global accelerated settlement: The push for a global T+1 settlement cycle continues, with the UK and EU leading the way [3] - Transaction reporting optimization: Firms are focusing on efficiency and control following regulatory rewrites [3] Lending & Leasing - Frictionless Enterprise: Lending firms are providing a seamless omnichannel digital experience for equipment financing [3] - Moving towards Equipment-as-a-Service: The growth of as-a-service models is redefining equipment financing [3] - Embedded finance: Equipment leasing is being transformed with seamless integration of financing solutions [3] - Expanding B2C channels: Digital platforms are being leveraged for scalable growth and enhanced customer engagement [3] - Bespoke Solutions: Customized solutions are being offered in an efficient and cost-effective manner [3] - Green asset financing: Sustainability is reshaping the investment landscape [3] - Navigating the regulatory landscape: There is a shift towards sustainable and transparent lending [3] - Ushering digital transformation: Data-driven management and decision-making are being leveraged [3] - Simplifying and standardizing processes: AI and ML technologies are being integrated across geographies and business lines [3] - Balancing automation with human expertise: AI and ML are being used for efficiency while preserving human judgment [3] Sustainability - Sustainable product opportunities: Growth in innovative and eco-friendly debt instruments and insurance products is being observed [3] - Sustainability service opportunities: Financial institutions are supporting clients to accelerate their net-zero transition [3] - ESG risk criteria: Financial institutions are increasingly incorporating ESG risk factors into investment strategies [3] - Increased regulation: Enhanced regulatory frameworks and reporting are reshaping corporate accountability [3] - Industrialized climate risk modeling: Financial institutions are intensifying efforts to assess and manage climate-related risks [3] - Greenwashing and greenhushing: Financial institutions face scrutiny from customers, activists, and regulators [3] - Decarbonization of portfolios: Stakeholders are prioritizing low-carbon investments to reduce carbon footprints [3] - Sustainability as corporate DNA: Enterprise-wide sustainability is being integrated into operations, products, and supply chains [3] - Gen AI aiding sustainability: Gen AI is enabling innovative ways to implement sustainability in financial services [3] - Going beyond carbon emissions: Financial services are broadening ESG strategies to include social and biodiversity factors [3] Key Companies and Innovations - Klarna: Partnered with Worldpay to offer flexible payment options, including buy now/pay later, simplifying integration for merchants [9] - Wero: Launched by the European Payments Initiative (EPI), offering instant money transfers using phone numbers and QR codes [13] - Pix: Brazil's instant payment system expanded to Europe, enabling QR payments at Barcelona airport [14] - WorldFirst: Launched real-time cross-border payments for small and medium businesses in over 200 markets [25] - Partior: A DLT payment network enabling real-time, multi-currency clearing and settlement for cross-border payments [25] - Security Bank: Partnered with ACI Worldwide to modernize payment infrastructure and offer real-time payment solutions [34] - Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank: Launched a cloud-native payment hub to enhance cross-border transfer speed and efficiency [34] - HSBC: Launched the multi-currency app Zing, enabling transactions in over 200 markets using Visa's network [41] - Alexbank: Partnered with Mastercard to enhance payment solutions, focusing on fraud detection and cybersecurity [41] - Mastercard: Expanded payment resiliency solutions to ensure seamless card payments [49] - DBS Bank: Invested USD 58 million to improve technology resiliency after digital disruptions [49] - MUFG: Collaborating on a decentralized digital identity initiative using distributed ledger technology [92] - HSBC: Prototyping a decentralized digital identity solution for internal account opening [92] - CIBC: Partnered with Visa to send money via digital wallets to key remittance destinations [97] - Mox Bank: Partnered with Wise to provide express international money transfers with reduced costs [97] - JPMorgan Chase: Introduced Chase Media Solutions, leveraging customer data for targeted retail deals [99] - PayPal: Launched an ad sales business leveraging user behavior data for targeted advertising [99]