Visa, a global leader in digital payments, stands at the forefront of redefining payment experience as digital payments adoption continues to rise worldwide, with increased usage across websites, apps, in-store platforms, and other digital forms. Today, Visa is unveiling six key trends shaping payments in 2025, which span AI, cross-border money movement, real-time payments (RTP), digital identity, A2A payments, and embedded finance.
Six key trends shaping 2025 payments:
Trend 1: AI guards against fraud
AI will play a crucial role in personalising payment experiences and enhancing fraud detection capabilities, fostering greater trust between buyers and sellers. As deep learning algorithms become more sophisticated in analysing transaction patterns and identifying potential risks in real time, this will fundamentally strengthen the payment experience by creating smoother and more secure transactions.
Another key aspect of security lies in the responsible use of AI. The Hong Kong government has emphasised the importance of responsible AI use in the financial sector1, urging businesses to leverage AI resources while prioritising transparency, security, and efficiency. In line with this directive, fraud prevention solutions are increasingly playing a role in safeguarding payments. For instance, in 2024, Visa introduced three new AI-powered risk and fraud prevention solutions as part of the Visa Protect suite. These solutions are designed to reduce fraud across immediate A2A and card-not-present (CNP) payments, as well as transactions on and off Visa’s network.
The potential for the next generation of AI to transform the payments ecosystem to become safer, smarter and more seamless is vast and a critical factor for the success of payment companies and other industries in 2025 and beyond.
Trend 2: Cross-border payments travel fast
Cross-border money movement has historically been B2B-focused and primarily handled by traditional banks. However, as globalisation and global trade evolve, so has the demand for faster, more efficient payment solutions.
The supply chain is no longer limited to local networks with businesses expanding their supply chains regionally or even globally. The Greater Bay Area (GBA), for example, is emerging as a critical global trade hub, bringing in new opportunities for Hong Kong businesses and beyond. This means transactions need to occur across borders, adding complexity to the process and necessitating the demand for a secure global network, such as Visa Direct, that can support real time, interoperable payments.
More efficient and cost-effective cross-border solutions will enable businesses and consumers to transact across borders without the traditional delays and fees, while simplifying currency conversions and ensuring compliance with local regulatory requirements.
Trend 3: Real-time payments gain momentum globally
In 2025, real-time payment (RTP) momentum will be influenced by developments in the world’s largest economies. Hong Kong is already making significant strides in instant cross-border payments, with plans to trial the integration of the Faster Payment System (FPS) with mainland China, as well as link to other major economies in the region such as Thailand. Globally, governments are increasingly working with the private sector to bridge the payment gap and overcome challenges such as fraud, security vulnerabilities, availability concerns and lack of cross-border/FX capabilities, an area where Visa is playing an active role.
The critical task for regulators, policymakers and the broader payments ecosystem is to balance innovation with safeguards, protecting against the risks associated with the instant and irreversible nature of RTP payments. Ensuring that domestic RTP networks are open and interoperable is also key to facilitating trade and global growth.
Trend 4: Digital identity simplifies authentication
For years, passwords, security questions, even card numbers have long served as stand-ins for individuals, and fraudsters have taken advantage of this fact. Now and in the future, authentication will rely on highly secure credentials, namely one’s face, fingerprints, or other biometrics.
Enhanced Visa checkout products like Visa Click to Pay and Visa Payment Passkey reduce reliance on traditional PINs and passwords and enhance security and convenience through the use of biometric scans. Visa Click to Pay is now available in Hong Kong and is transforming payments by removing transaction friction using a unified checkout process. Going forward, centring biometric markers in payments authentication, in line with best data privacy, cybersecurity, and AI governance practices will help make the whole chain more convenient and more secure.
Trend 5: A2A payments get streamlined
Card-based payments deliver a certain experience, security, and protections that non-card payments simply don’t. Electronic payments, like ACH transfers, have also largely been excluded from the digital revolution. A growing number of solutions are now accelerating the process of digitising and streamlining A2A payments, expanding payment options for consumers.
While A2A real-time payments have grown popular and widespread among consumers, they’ve also become popular with fraudsters. Local police force and financial authorities have revealed that up to 30% of FPS users have ignored scam alerts and gone ahead with transactions while losses involving cybercrime cases reported in Hong Kong jumped 31% to nearly HKD 2.7 billion in the first six months of 20242. Keeping consumers’ interests at heart, Visa has rolled out tools such as Visa Protect for A2A Payments to help mitigate fraud on RTP networks, together with an updated Security Roadmap to protect, devalue and harness data while empowering consumers. Additionally, Visa is collaborating with industry bodies in Hong Kong to synchronise security initiatives to further our commitment in prioritising cybersecurity and combating fraud.
Trend 6: Embedded finance proliferates
Embedded finance refers to third-party financial products and services embedded into otherwise non-financial digital platforms. More and more, payment solutions are becoming integrated, particularly into the merchant ecosystem. For instance, seamless payment services are now available for contractors in the construction industry, as shown in Visa’s recent collaboration with Singapore-based fintech firm, Doxa, helping them gain faster access to working capital. Visa is also seeing an uptick in embedded finance lending products and white label embedded finance payment solutions, and has been leading the way with deep-tier financing.
Payments are constantly evolving to deliver convenience, transparency and trust. They empower businesses to grow, consumers to feel confident and communities to flourish. From secure biometric authentication to instant and seamless transactions across the globe, each innovation is a step forward in meeting the demands of everyone who is paying and being paid.
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