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
2026 Emerging Payments Trends
In emerging payments, hype comes first, often well in advance of the actual broad use of the payment tools and technologies. In 2026, after a year of press releases heralding the transformation to be brought about by ]agentic AI, look for consum...
2026 Merchant Payments Trends
As payment technology advances and offers greater options and flexibility for consumers, merchants are put in the position of prioritizing how to manage payment acceptance, what platforms to engage with, and how to continue chasing higher revenu...
2026 Prepaid Payments Trends
Prepaid card programs motor along while innovation bubbles beneath the service. In the coming year and beyond, Javelin sees three major themes playing out in the space. First, the idea that digital options are going to eliminate physical cards n...
2026 Tech & Infrastructure Trends
The past few years have seen payment modernization and infrastructure improvements at financial institutions, but the next few years will require something new: a coordination of technology, processes, and policies. The banks and vendors that co...
22nd Annual U.S. Closed-Loop Prepaid Card Market Forecast, 2025-2029
Closed-loop prepaid programs continue to grow load volumes across the spectrum of use cases. In this report, Javelin Strategy & Research continues its annual assessment of closed-loop prepaid programs across a range of categories and identifies ...
Young Borrowers: Riskier Than Ever...and the Future of Credit Cards
The future of credit cards rests with younger consumers, in the 18-to-29 age range, and not with their parents and grandparents. Here’s the rub, though: These consumers are a much higher-risk bet for card issuers, more prone to serious delinquen...
Digital Money Comes to Payments, but the Crypto Has Disappeared
Digital money has come to payments, but the now isn’t the future that was once envisioned. “Cryptocurrency”—the word and the experience—is receding, and moving value through digital assets—namely stablecoins—is flourishing, particularly on the c...
2025 Emerging Payments Survey: Agents Enter the Stage
It’s early in the game for AI tools and especially for AI agents, and for the first time Javelin Strategy & Research’s North American PaymentsInsights survey has put consumers’ use of those technologies into play. The picture is taking shape, of...
2025 Mass-Market Credit Cards Scorecard
Mass-market credit cards must balance features and rates to attract average U.S. consumers. This Javelin Strategy & Research report benchmarks general-purpose credit cards by 10 major issuers with an eye toward the most appealing pitches across ...
Capabilities in Context: A Value Chain Analysis of AP and AR Providers
Payment providers looking for integration and partnership opportunities with accounts payable and accounts receivable vendors are well-advised to assess potential synergies based on workflow adjacency rather than broad solution categories. Javel...