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The Global Wallet War: Who Will Own the Customer?
As mobile wallets evolve into ecosystems encompassing payments, identity, loyalty, and lending, the battle for digital wallet supremacy is heating up across borders. This feature explores how Big Tech, banks, and fintechs are racing to become the primary financial interface for consumers. It will examine the rise of interoperable wallets, super apps, and regional alliances, as well as how customer data, UX design, and trust are becoming key competitive weapons.
The Evolution of Point-of-Sale: From Terminals to Touchpoints
Point-of-sale systems are transforming from mere transaction points to comprehensive customer engagement platforms. This feature will explore innovations in POS technology, integration with loyalty programs, and how data analytics at the POS are enhancing customer insights.
Financial Inclusion through Fintech: Bridging the Gap
Fintech innovations are playing a crucial role in extending financial services to underserved populations. We’ll examine successful models, challenges in scaling, and the impact of mobile banking and microfinance solutions in promoting financial inclusion.
Why is Lloyds Bank really acquiring Curve?
Lloyds Bank has confirmed the £120 million acquisition of Curve which marks one of the most strategically significant moves by a UK bank in digital wallets and consumer payments in recent years.
Visa and Mastercard’s interchange truce: A small cut in a very large pie
A fresh settlement between Visa, Mastercard and US merchants promises to trim interchange fees—yet the concessions may do little to shift the balance of power in America’s card-payments ecosystem.
Bancomat unveils plans for European multi-bank stablecoin
Italian payments firm Bancomat has revealed plans to launch a shared euro-denominated stablecoin, EUR-Bank, in what could become the first multi-bank digital currency framework in Europe.
As B2B marketplaces rocket, do banks risk disintermediation?
A new white paper from global banking infrastructure innovators RS2 traces the rapid global rise of B2B marketplaces – and what it means for banks.
Stablecoin safety illusion: Why new rules leave hidden risk exposed
The recently enacted GENIUS Act, America’s new stablecoin law, was billed as a milestone in integrating crypto assets into the financial mainstream.
The Future of Digital Wallets: Consolidation or Diversification?
Digital wallets have become ubiquitous, but the market faces questions about saturation and differentiation. This feature will assess trends in wallet consolidation, the emergence of super apps, and strategies for wallet providers to maintain user engagement.
AI and Machine Learning in Fraud Detection: Staying Ahead of Threats
As fraudsters employ sophisticated techniques, AI and machine learning are critical in detecting and preventing fraudulent activities. We’ll explore the latest advancements in predictive analytics, behavioural biometrics, and real-time risk assessment tools.
Preparing for Quantum Computing: Implications for Payment Security
Quantum computing poses both opportunities and threats to payment security. This feature will discuss the potential impact of quantum technologies on encryption standards, the urgency for quantum-resistant algorithms, and how the industry is preparing for this paradigm shift.
Big retail eyes stablecoin challenge to payment giants
The payments industry may be on the cusp of one of its most dramatic shifts in decades.
Global e-commerce payments to exceed $13 trillion by 2030
Global e-commerce payments are projected to surge past $13 trillion by 2030, according to new analysis from Juniper Research, marking a 57% increase on the $8.3 trillion expected in 2025.
How people pay in 2025: Contactless dominates, cash comeback
The way British consumers choose to pay has always been a mirror of wider economic, cultural and technological trends.
Gen X take spending crown – What it means for retail and payments
For decades, retailers have fixated on Baby Boomers and Millennials as the twin pillars of consumer spending. Yet a quiet generational shift is underway.
Agentic AI: Why prompts could replace the buy button
For three decades, e-commerce has relied on a familiar grammar: a search bar, a product page, and the decisive click on a “buy now” button.
The Rise of Programmable Payments: Beyond Automation
As central banks and fintechs explore programmable money, we examine how programmable payments are reshaping transaction dynamics. This feature will delve into smart contracts, conditional payments, and their implications for B2B transactions, supply chain financing, and consumer incentives.
Digital Identity in Payments: Building Trust in a Connected World
With increasing digital transactions, establishing secure and seamless digital identities is paramount. We’ll explore advancements in digital ID frameworks, biometric authentication, and their role in enhancing customer experience while mitigating fraud.
Sustainable Payments: Aligning Transactions with ESG Goals
As environmental concerns take center stage, the payments industry is under pressure to adopt sustainable practices. This feature will assess green payment initiatives, carbon-neutral transaction processing, and how companies are integrating ESG considerations into their payment strategies.
Why Circle wants to become a bank
Circle, the issuer of the world’s second-largest stablecoin USDC, is taking a step towards becoming a fully-fledged bank.
European fintech M&A surges in 2025 on wave of consolidation
European fintech M&A is surging in 2025, with disclosed deal value for $100 million-plus transactions reaching $3.9 billion in H1 2025, almost double the total recorded for all of 2024.
Mobey Forum: Embedded finance – a strategic roadmap for banks
The digital economy continues to evolve and banks face a moment of reckoning. No longer can financial institutions afford to operate as mere destinations for transactional services.
Stablecoins at the crossroads: Entering the financial mainstream
Stablecoins, once confined to the fringes of the crypto universe, are moving into the financial mainstream.
Can Open Banking secure Europe’s financial sovereignty?
In an era where geopolitical uncertainty increasingly influences the flow of money, the security and sovereignty of national payment infrastructures have never been more vital.
Cross-Border Payments: The Global Overhaul Gathers Pace
Cross-border payments, once a byword for inefficiency and opacity, are undergoing a structural transformation. The convergence of regulatory momentum, technological innovation, and geopolitical necessity is creating a watershed moment for global money movement.
Open Banking at a Crossroads: Can It Secure Europe’s Financial Sovereignty?
In an era where geopolitical uncertainty increasingly influences the flow of money, the security and sovereignty of national payment infrastructures have never been more vital. As economic sanctions disrupt financial corridors and global tensions rise, Open Banking is emerging not only as a force for innovation — but potentially, as a bulwark of financial independence.
Mobile Money Comes of Age: A New Engine of Economic Development
In 2024, the mobile money industry crossed a historic threshold. According to the GSMA State of the Industry Report on Mobile Money 2025, the sector now boasts over 2.1 billion registered accounts and 514 million monthly active users — a milestone that underscores the transformation of mobile money from a financial inclusion enabler into a linchpin of economic resilience across the Global South.
E-commerce’s global growth trajectory
Once a niche alternative to traditional shopping, e-commerce has evolved into a dominant force in global retail – one now poised for another transformational leap.
QR code payments surge reaching $1.2tn by 2029
The Asia Pacific region is poised for an extraordinary acceleration in QR code-based payments, with transaction values expected to soar from $290 billion in 2024 to $1.2 trillion by 2029.
Identity threat landscape: Passkeys to replace passwords by 2027
A landmark shift in digital identity security is underway, with phishing-resistant passkeys set to surpass passwords and traditional multi-factor authentication (MFA) by 2027.
Meta platforms under fire as Revolut sounds fraud alarm
A new global fraud report from Revolut has cast a stark spotlight on the persistent role of social media platforms – particularly those owned by Meta – as enablers of online scams.
BCG: Strategic priorities in a slowing global payments market
The global payments industry finds itself at an inflection point. Once a perennial outperformer, the sector is now facing the reality of slower growth, investor impatience, and mounting operational complexity.
Checking-out what matters to merchants
From aggregation of wallets to dynamic and personalised check-out experiences, merchants and acquirers are getting to grips with Instant and multiple payment methods to serve their loyal following.
Missing EN Action?
Hot on the heels of the payments revolution in South-East Asia, the MENA region is a hotbed of mobile and digital payments innovation. We look at some key players and the progress being made, as well as the infrastructure hurdles to be overcome.
B2B crossing borders
Following retail developments, the B2B space is becoming big business. How can businesses reduce friction and improve processing, cost and transparency to win out in the cross border stakes.
Play Eur Cards right
It’s time for Payments Industry Intelligence’s annual and exclusive proprietary research covering all things cards and payments in the buoyant region of 33 European markets. Trends and developments? Sign up for the low down.
Payments ’25 – The year ahead
As the effects of the pandemic, and economic and geopolitical shocks have settled into a new normal payments climate, PCM examines what’s in store for 2025. Where are resources best directed and what innovative strategies and technologies will ring the new year changes?
Is BNPL here to stay?
BNPL has taken root, commanding redefinitions of credit scoring, regulation and lending, impacting payment volumes and values and retail behaviour everywhere. Is its popular appeal set to continue?