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
Making Sense of Agentic Commerce: How Do We Get Started?
Agentic commerce has seized the headlines in 2025 with announcements and plans for features from various players in the nascent space? But what does it all mean when so much of the future vision—from what agents are to how they’re acquired and d...
2025 Prepaid Regulatory Update: Federal Changes Dominate the Conversation
This annual update by Javelin Strategy & Research covers how economic and regulatory issues are affecting the prepaid card market. It focuses on how the prepaid market may be affected by changes to broad-scale federal policy as well as direct fe...
Credit Card Acquisitions: An Intro to Introductory Offers
The U.S. adult population grew by 10% from 2016 to 2025, but credit card acquisitions advanced at a rate almost five times faster. Cardholders are not just accumulating credit cards; they increased their revolving debt in that period by more tha...
Unattended Checkout: Where Do We Go From Here?
Unattended checkout isn’t dying, not by a long shot, but it’s in a period of transition. Although consumers like it, merchants need it, and payment trends favor it, some major merchants have scaled back their ambitions for unattended checkout as...
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...