What shapes consumer transactions and payment technologies, and where is it going?
Any conventional wisdom about payments—how they’re made, the currencies being used, the cards presently in favor—doesn’t last long before the next wave of technology, innovation, and regulation. Javelin’s analysts conduct research at the forefront of payments, identifying the emerging trends for financial services companies and payments providers and offering insight into how they can best position themselves not just for what is current but also for what is coming.
Payments Research
Reports
Capital One and Discover: A Big Deal, Not a Cakewalk
The newly approved Capital One-Discover merger, which comes with a combined $250 billion loan book, creates a behemoth in payments but will require firm and judicious leadership to integrate the best of both companies’ worlds. This Javelin Strat...
Surcharging on Card Transactions: In Search of Balance
The decision by a merchant to impose a surcharge on credit card transactions—usually a percentage of the purchase price to offset the cost of card acceptance—is understandable but still an untenable risk in most situations. Amid ever-expanding p...
Riffing on Tariffs: Now is the Time to Build Your Small Business Card Portfolio
Small businesses represent the backbone of the U.S. economy, but they also struggle with the cash flow necessary for long-term survival. Amid the U.S. imposition of tariffs, many small businesses are facing the prospect of supply chain disruptio...
Instant Payments From the Frontlines: Overcoming Operational Challenges
As demand for real-time payments grows, implementing FedNow and RTP brings unique challenges—from legacy system integration to fraud prevention and customer support.
Payment Orchestration: Making the Juice Worth the Squeeze
Payment orchestration has come to the forefront as enterprise merchants work to squeeze the most from their payment platform. In addition to optimizing authorization rates, merchants wrestle with new payment types, expansion into new sales chann...
Tech Meets Tariffs: Cross-Border Payments in 2025
In 2025, businesses in cross-border payments are being transformed by global trade shifts, evolving tariff policies, and technological innovations. This Javelin Strategy & Research report delves into how real-time payments, digital advancements,...
‘Disappearing’ Accounts and the Future of Payments
The legacy view of accounts—rigid holdings and lines of credit in financial silos—is yielding to the reality of open banking and interoperability, by which the walls around those accounts disappear and money movement becomes freer and more easil...
Seven Credit Card Warning Signs in 2025: Don’t Stop Lending, but Watch Out
For credit card managers, assessing risk metrics and adjusting their strategies are the bedrock aspects of the job. Right now, those messages are mixed. Unemployment is steady, inflation remains high but is better than last year, yet consumers a...
The Fate of the CFPB and Section 1033 Rules
The Trump administration’s efforts to shrink the federal government have stalled the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s actions, including litigation related to and enforcement of Section 1033, the collection of rules regarding the use and s...
Understanding Solana for Financial Services
The Ethereum blockchain is the leader in institutional use among providers of financial services, but Solana is making a strong case for consideration. Its throughput capacity and transaction speed—driven by the Firedancer upgrade that patched s...