BCG – Global Payments Report, 2025

The main theme of the report is the analysis of changes and future trends in the payments industry by 2025.

Key findings include significant changes in the payments industry due to rapid growth of innovations such as instant payments, digital currencies, generative and agent AI. Software platforms are taking a larger share of payment revenues, increasing demands on product capabilities, speed, and integration. Regulators are expanding their focus on payments and transactional banking, creating new levels of risk. Payment revenues are projected to reach $2.4 trillion by 2029, despite a slowdown in growth to 4% annually. Major changes include the movement of digital currencies towards mass adoption, the potential of agent AI, the need for cost improvements, the platformization of merchant services, the growth of account-to-account systems and their impact on cross-border flows, and sustainable frameworks for risk management and regulatory compliance.