What shapes consumer transactions and payment technologies, and where is it going?
Rapid changes in technology, regulation, and consumer behavior continue to reshape the payments industry. Javelin’s payments research team tracks commercial and consumer payment trends, evaluates emerging payment technologies, and anticipates what’s next. Through unbiased research, data-driven insights, and actionable advice, we help financial institutions, payments providers, and technology companies develop strategies that position them for success in a rapidly evolving market.
Payments Research
Reports
2026 Commercial Payments Factbook
The 2026 Commercial Payments Factbook examines how macroeconomic risk, payment-rail adoption, and changing product mix are reshaping the U.S. B2B payments market. It combines scenario-based forecasts with industry and sector analysis to show whe...
Monetizing the API: Banks Are Increasingly Generating Funds from Tech
Banks’ payment API strategies have matured from cautious experimentation to core growth and defensive plays. Moving beyond insecure screen scraping, banks now monetize proprietary and embedded finance APIs to drive transaction volume, cross-sell...
Stablecoin Partner Guide for FIs: A How-To and What to Ask
Stablecoins are becoming increasingly embedded into real payment flows. This report provides a practical framework for FIs to evaluate various partners in categories such as issuance, custody, orchestration, compliance, and integration. FIs will...
Banks Not Focused on Merchant Acquiring Are Giving Their Business Customers to Fintechs
Many banks remain reluctant to offer merchant acquiring services to their business customers because it’s a low-margin business with deep technology requirements. For business customers, however, card payments from their customers represent the ...
Invisible Debit: When the Card Disappears, Usage Remains
The debit experience is expected to feel as seamless and digital as the apps customers use every day. As card‑not‑present spending surges and debit quietly powers P2P and wallet transactions, financial institutions face a pivotal moment to moder...
Purposeful Prepaid Spending: Driving Revenue Through Defined Redemption
This report, sponsored by SKUx, explores the opportunity to utilize incentives as positive and beneficial tools to increase consumer demand and loyalty. This paper aims to help organizations understand how to promote the use of incentives, be pu...
Prepaid and Stablecoins: Turning Liabilities Into Assets
Prepaid cards have evolved from handwritten gift certificates to digital wallets, and now they face a new inflection point. This Impact Note explores how stablecoins and tokenized digital assets could transform prepaid cards from balance-sheet l...
Klarna Gets Its Wrist Slapped Again: BNPL Brings Volume, but Not Credit Quality or Profits
Klarna’s buy-now, pay-later model is colliding with global regulation. A Netherlands court has invalidated consumer debts, ruling BNPL creates credit obligations—despite zero interest—and Klarna’s guardrails were lacking. Rising losses are outpa...
Stablecoins and the Programmability Gap: Changes Are Happening Upstream
Stablecoins are often framed as just another payment rail, but that view misses what makes them important. Programmability shifts how and where payment behavior is defined, moving logic upstream of banks and traditional processors. That change i...
Co-Branded Credit Cards Smoke, Private Labels Choke
Co‑branded credit cards thrive when financial institutions and consumer brands join to create value neither could deliver alone. When designed well, these partnerships fuel customer acquisition, deepen loyalty, and generate major revenue streams...