In a digital world, trust is everything – Here’s how to build it

A new report from digital payments innovators Checkout.com reveals the trends shaping the future of payments – trends we cover in an earlier article.

In a digital world, trust is everything

Checkout.com’s research has found that many markets world-wide are going hyper-digital, with consumers shopping online multiple times per day.

Citizens are also increasingly going online either to earn at least part of their living through gig work, or (especially in the case of younger generations) contributing to the so-called “circular economy” by reselling items they own through marketplaces. 

The study from Checkout.com argues that, in a digital world, reviews and recommendations are still key to winning trust.

What’s more, trust is an essential part of doing business – trust that a gig worker will complete their tasks, or that a client will pay the agreed amount for a piece of work on time, or that goods offered for sale are satisfactory and will not lead to disputes.

Checkout.com’s report finds that 66% of consumers will lose trust in a brand if payment performance is poor, noting that 40% of consumers have abandoned their cart due to security concerns over the past 12 months.

Trust becomes all the more important as AI agents play an increasingly important role in e-commerce.

Although AI is steadily reshaping the shopping experience, with the latest wave of autonomous AI-powered assistants able to read on-screen content and complete bookings without human input, adoption remains mixed.

55% of consumers shopping online weekly use some form of AI to assist their search.

As AI agents increasingly take on the role of personal online shoppers, businesses will have to work hard to build trust with consumers, who will want to trust the online merchants selected by their AI agents for purchases.

However, a number of factors are emerging that threaten any individual or organization’s capacity to develop trust.

These include the rapid rise of digital-first fraud vectors such as synthetic ID, Account Takeover and Automated Push Payment (APP) fraud.

Recent projections forecast that APP fraud alone will be responsible for losses of more than $7.6 billion globally by 2028. 

Poorly-understood or complex verification methodologies can also create friction for purchasers during the checkout process. 

Meanwhile, merchants face a separate challenge in that a huge range of payment methods is now proliferating, some of which are strongly preferred in certain markets and geographies.

This places the onus on merchants to offer different payment methods in different markets, and potentially build individual integrations for each method. 

How To Build Trust

The report identifies key elements that constitute trust in any payments system.

The report also offers helpful tips for merchants of all kinds when seeking to establish trust with users.

Different elements of trust include trust in counterparties, which can be developed through a coherent approach to authentication; trust in payment methods, and trust in the checkout process from selecting goods to confirmation of a purchase. 

In their report, Checkout.com argues that merchants can adopt a few simple steps that will help build trust and, by extension, drive more transaction completions, higher revenues and greater profitability. These include creating smoother, safer user experiences during the payment process. 

User experiences around payment should also provide reassurance and be consistent.

Examples of such experiences include the delivery of goods and services on time, the rapid and fair resolution of any disputed transactions and clear and consistent communication with users both before, during and after the payment process. 

Finally, tough anti-fraud measures, applied consistently and with rigor, are an absolute necessity if users are to develop trust in a merchant’s services – whether that merchant is a multi-national with global reach, or a gig worker selling services in-country to a limited range of customers. 

For further tips on how to build trust in a digital future, download “Trust in The Digital Economy 2025”