Remember when we had to use our phones to pay for things?

Ten years from now, when ‘elder’ Gen Z are pushing 40, we think they’ll be saying, "remember in the olden days when we had to use our phones to pay?!".

Technology that exists today lays the foundation to revolutionise commerce, bringing benefits for billions of sellers, individuals and economies alike. But it’s not yet evenly distributed nor connected in a way that delivers the seamless user experience that younger generations and those who follow them expect as the norm¹.

Just imagine your connection to your bank as a digital dashboard, where you have full control over how your information is used. You could choose what other sources are connected, and who has access to what you want to share. So, as well as your primary bank and card transactions, the dashboard could connect data like your step count, location history, calendar, or a cafe loyalty account. It could even include transactions from multiple accounts, such as the credit card you only use in an emergency. The dashboard would put it all in one place, without having to switch between apps.

You could configure your personal setup to automate choices. For instance, “if I go to the coffee shop, I want to use my loyalty points first, then use my main account debit balance after that”. Or, "if I spend over £250, I want to split the payments into three”.

In that digital dashboard, where a passkey linked to your biometrics protects your data, AI could be used to offer you advice and personalised choices, find deals that match your preferences or help you save money. And sellers can choose to recognise value in different ways – like the way some apps reward users with transferrable points for step count.

We wondered what experiences some of these innovations could offer consumers and small businesses, so we visited Chalk Coffee - an independent cafe in Chester, UK - to test them out on their customers²:

So, the future is here? Well...sort of.

Expectations for seamless experiences are higher than ever. And if the technology exists to deliver it, then what’s the hold up? Data is a big part of it. More must be done to simplify and standardise data sharing and put choice in the hands of consumers and small businesses.

To be more specific, we think the democratisation of data – putting measures in place that give consumers control over what data they choose to share, how, when and with whom – will increase trust³. A recent Visa study of 12,000 Europeans found that 69% believe companies benefit more from using their data than they do⁴. In addition:

• People care more about ‘how data will be used’ than ‘personal benefits received’.
• When consumers are given more control over data use, they are more likely to share data with companies to use it responsibly.

• And giving consumers greater control over their data rewards the companies who do so with stronger trust⁵

And then what of availability? While the ‘parts’ exist independently, I believe there is opportunity in bringing these pieces together to create the seamless, interconnected user experience the technology has the potential to deliver.

But availability is a little about reality too. Generative AI, for instance, opens up so many opportunities to improve and personalise experiences. But we’ve all seen or heard some of the funny or bizarre results that it can throw out today – the experience isn’t always perfect. And with Moore’s Law at work (like having a super-fast computer that gets twice as smart every two years), the time to rapid improvements gets shorter and shorter.

Something for everyone

These advancements can and will benefit people, businesses and economies. We did a bit of research⁶ and made some predictions into the tangible socio-economic benefits these innovations could bring.

Make your digital twin work for you
Europeans could save up to €250 billion more every year if they embraced digital management tools like AI to help manage their finances. (That’s £15-30 billion in the UK alone!)⁷.

• Trust is still a problem. 40% of the people we asked said they’re less likely to trust AI with their personal information.  
• But that’s changing. 36% said they trust AI more now than a year ago, which rises to 47% amongst Gen Z.  
• And it’s not just new use cases. We’ve used AI for decades to protect the payments ecosystem and prevent fraud. A groundbreaking recent pilot showed how it could save the UK over £330m a year on fraud and APP scams.

Your passport to you
Biometric protections – on a digital wallet or ID – could reduce friction from passwords and see UK and EU businesses take up to €43 billion in additional sales every year. Biometrics could also reduce fraud by €483 million every year across the same region⁸.

• Digital IDs and biometrics together can make things easier and protect people and businesses.
• 43% of the people we spoke to said they’d feel more secure using biometric protection than traditional methods. 
• And biometrics could unlock the potential for digital IDs, making information (with choice and consent) accessible for seamless online experiences to unlock a multitude of services from healthcare to banking and eCommerce or even replacing the need for a physical passport.

Your choice rather than your options
A European retailer adding Click to Pay to online checkout could increase revenues by up to 30%, leading to an annual increase of €51bn in SMB eCommerce sales in the UK and EU⁹.

• We’ve moved from ‘sign, swipe and insert’, all linear, hard-wired experiences, to now multiple ways to interact with a retailer or service provider.  
• The possible future introduction of a flexible digital dashboard could bring benefits. It could make it easy for sellers and consumers to customise and control their choices and conditions for payments or sharing their data. 
• Plus, it might be adaptable, such as the possible future integration of new forms of value like loyalty points, or even step counts would provide more choice and flexibility, underpinned by tokens. 
• 60% of the people we spoke to said if a business didn’t offer the payment options they prefer, they’d make the purchase elsewhere.

Let’s get Phygital
Whether it’s paying by gesture, voice, or even by car – using connected technology and geolocation to pay for tolls, fuel or a coffee on the way, all without taking your hands off the wheel – embedded finance won’t be a novelty, it will be the baseline.

• The next gen experience is seamless integration into a persons’ context and environment, without needing to switch between platforms or apps. It could even blur the lines between physical and digital.¹⁰
• Innovation is key! 40% of the people we asked said they’d consider switching banks if theirs didn’t keep up with offering the latest innovations and trends.
• Not to mention convenience. 14% said they’ve previously abandoned their purchase because they didn’t want to get up and find their physical card!

From millions to billions of sellers
67% of Europe’s SMBs are digitised today. If we closed that gap of 33%, they’d be looking at a combined revenue increase of over €200bn annually in real terms (once they were digitised)¹¹.

• Anyone can become a seller today in just a few clicks.
• AI can support these ‘nano-sellers’ as they scale up their businesses, with 71% of SMBs and entrepreneurs agreeing that if AI could help them grow their business, they’d trust it to do so.
• Overall, it will be more important than ever for tomorrow’s businesses to have access to infrastructure and services that adapt to their diverse and dynamic needs – supporting multiple currencies, payment methods and platforms and providing additional services like analytics, loyalty and additional fraud prevention.

Technology that not so long ago felt like something out of a science fiction film could be poised to unlock more seamless experiences and billions in economic value in Europe. And it’ll be here before you can blink!