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
The Virtual Economy: Identifying Supplier Industries Receptive to Virtual Cards
Although buyers increasingly favor virtual cards for their control, automation, and working capital benefits, many suppliers question whether acceptance delivers enough value to justify the cost. This Javelin Strategy & Research report identifie...
Real-Time Payments: Use Cases in Acquiring
The real time payments made possible through The Clearing House’s RTP and the Fed’s FedNow payment rails are making headlines, with promises of efficiency and lightning fast payments. However, what’s promised—or imagined—and what’s delivered don...
DFAST: Tight Credit Card Risk Controls Ensure Bank Liquidity
Top financial institutions are prepared to navigate a severe economic shift, based on the results of the 2025 Dodd-Frank stress tests. Credit card losses continue to be the most significant area of risk, but the current required tests indicate t...
Digital ID Adoption Requires Digital ID Acceptance: How Payments Can Lead the Way
The issuance of digital IDs in the United States is undeniably expanding, nearing a tipping point where more than half of the country will have access to this form of identification. As U.S. progress continues, a mandate on issuance and adoption...
The Role of Developers: Building Developer Communities
Developer portals at banks will be crucial to advancing open-banking APIs in a way that ensures efficiency, consumer safety, and innovation. This Javelin Strategy & Research report details what banks can learn from their fintech counterparts, wh...
The Great Bill Pay Reset: How Real-Time Payments and Open Banking Are Upending the Status Quo
Bill pay is no longer a utility but the frontline battle for agent-driven, real-time payments. The evolution of open banking and financial automation means banks that fail to modernize their bill pay products risk losing control of the trust, in...
Oracles: The Missing Link Between Blockchains and the Real World
Smart contracts can’t function without trusted, real-world data. Oracles make that connection possible by delivering verified off-chain inputs directly to the blockchain. This report explains how oracle networks work, where they differ from trad...
2025 Prepaid Holiday Preview: Gift Cards Could Provide Safe Harbor
With retailer preparations for the 2025 holiday shopping beginning in earnest, Javelin Strategy & Research highlights the chaotic retail environment, economic impacts on consumer confidence, and ability of prepaid products to fill gaps if the su...
The Future of Payments Is Coming. Is Your Core Ready?
Modernizing core banking systems is now essential for delivering real-time, secure, and scalable payments. This Javelin Strategy & Research report examines how legacy cores are being replaced or rebuilt with cloud-native, event-driven, and API-f...
Typecast for P2P: How Venmo and Cash App Are Expanding Beyond Paying Friends and Family
Popular person-to-person payment apps such as Venmo and Cash App pioneered the easy digital payment of friends and family with easy-to-use and engaging apps. The problem: Now, these platforms are finding it a challenge to go beyond the functiona...