Beyond the Hype: 5 Surprising Realities Shaping the Future of Payments
- Stanley Epstein - Introduction The common narrative around digital payments is one of solved problems and inevitable progress. We hear about a future that is instant, seamless, and entirely digital, and it’s easy to assume the financial industry is well on its way to delivering it. But a recent deep-dive into the state of the global payments ecosystem reveals a far more complex and surprising reality. These insights come from the "Payments 2030: What’s Shaping the Future?" report, based on a June 2025 survey of 162 senior financial executives conducted by Finextra Research in partnership with ACI Worldwide. The report uncovers the high-stakes conflict at the heart of the industry: the immense external pressure of customer demand crashing against the powerful internal inertia of legacy systems and reactive culture. This post distils the five most impactful takeaways from the report. They are not just interesting facts; they are crucial pieces of evidence that paint a pictu...