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
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...
Payment Hubs Stand at a Crossroads
Payment hubs promised to simplify payments, but many never lived up to that vision. As real-time payments, open banking, and platform modernization reshape the landscape, banks are looking beyond their hubs to what comes next. This report explai...
Visa’s Commercial Enhanced Data Program: What You and Your Merchants Need to Know
Level II and III data have long been a source of price relief for merchants that accept corporate, commercial, and purchasing cards. However, much of that price relief has been offset by gateways and PSPs plugging those data fields with placehol...
Expanding B2B Card Acceptance: Opportunities and Challenges
Join Javelin’s Hugh Thomas and Don Apgar for a conversation on where the next wave of B2B card acceptance can come from, and how to overcome the hurdles that stand in the way.
Stablecoin-Focused Networks: Another Step Toward the Mainstream
The new Layer 1 networks being developed by Stripe and Circle, focused on stablecoins, will become the backbone of a faster and more cost-effective payment economy. To this point, public Layer 1s haven’t provided the stable technological foundat...