Videos
Top Trends Reshaping Cards and Payments in 2026
Insights
- Digital identity
Strong identity must follow transactions across devices, channels, and geographies. For banks, this improves approval rates and reduces friction. For customers, it delivers predictability and confidence. - Agentic commerce
Software systems act on behalf of customers and enterprises within defined boundaries. Agents can choose payment methods, managing subscriptions, reconciling invoices, and triggering settlement. This requires payments to be programmable and tightly linked to the policies and controls. - Embedded and real-time payments
Payments are part of platforms, marketplaces, and enterprise tools and real time. Customers expect hyper-personalized, frictionless, omni-channel experience and want the choice of the method of payment. - Stablecoins
Stablecoins are moving from pilots to practical use. There's value in speed, extending operating hours and simpler cross-border settlement. They will sit alongside traditional rails, especially in treasury and inter-company payments.
Vivek Dwivedi:
In 2026, payments are no longer just products. They are the core infrastructure, always on, built directly into commerce, and increasingly intelligent. Four forces are driving this shift. First, digital identity. Payments have always relied on trust. Trust that is anchored in strong identity. It follows the transaction across devices, channels and geographies. For banks, this improves approval rates and reduces friction. For customers, it delivers predictability and confidence.
Second shift is agentic commerce. We will increasingly see software systems acting on behalf of customers and enterprises within defined boundaries. Agents choosing payment methods, managing subscriptions, reconciling invoices, and triggering settlement. This requires payments to be programmable and tightly linked to the policies and controls. Banks do play a critical role here by providing trusted rails, clear authorization frameworks and real-time visibility.
Third, we will see the ubiquity of embedded and real-time payments. Payments are disappearing into workflows. They're part of platforms, marketplaces, and enterprise tools. At the same time, real-time payments are becoming the default. Clients expect hyper-personalized, frictionless, omni-channel experience and want the choice of the method of payment. They do not want to think about the rails. They want to choose the right ones seamlessly.
Fourth, the stablecoins. Stablecoins are moving from pilots to practical use. There's value in speed, extending operating hours and simpler cross-border settlement. In 2026, regulated stablecoins sit alongside traditional rails for specific flows, especially in treasury and inter-company payments. This is again about choice, not replacement. Overall, payments are getting faster and more automated, but fundamentals remain the same. They are trust, security and control.
Leaders in 2026 will consider payments as one of the few levers that simultaneously impact the top line, the bottom line and the risk and compliant posture of their enterprises. Therefore, payments are a strategic capability you own and orchestrate, not just a back-office utility. Thank you.
