The desire for new types of digital payments like artificial intelligence or B2B payments that are far more safe and trustworthy has increased. This has allowed payments to become an open ecosystem. Many parties such as FinTechs, banks, payment companies, and others are attempting to expand the digital payment system by introducing new technology. 

In the last 4 to 5 years, we have seen a significant increase in digital payment transactions. However, with the pandemic, this development was pushed by the necessity for cashless and contactless payments. Therefore, cashless transactions are trending and on the path of solid growth.

Here are five digital payment trends that are indeed promising.

Digital Payment Trends 2021

1. Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning Influence Digital Payments 

Financial institutions have been employing Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning for fraud detection and process automation for a long time. However, their capabilities are not limited to this. You can do the following with the help of artificial intelligence integrated tools:

• Study the operations history of your customers
• Analyze their purchasing and spending patterns
• Forecast their future behavior

In the realm of digital payments, artificial intelligence can be helpful in a variety of ways, including:

Banking Chatbots

Chatbots have been shown to increase customer experience. When combined with the banking industry, they may assist users in resolving payment issues and queries more efficiently. ATB Financial and Bank of America (BoA) were among the first banks to use AI chatbots. 

Payments Made Via Social Media

The combination of payments with social media was the first digital payment trend to emerge in 2021. Facebook, Alibaba, and several other corporations have taken advantage of fusion by integrating payment capabilities into their Instant messaging programs. Amazon has now followed suit, developing the messaging platform ‘Anytime.’

Facebook AI Bots

Financial firms and banks have implemented Facebook Messenger Artificial intelligence bots to manage payments and provide personalized customer care. American Express (AmEx) is one company that does this, with a dedicated chatbot on Messenger for providing transaction notifications and benefit reminders to users.

2. B2B Payments

The volume of B2B payments and transactions is increasing as payments have become highly digital. The B2B payments sector in the United States alone is worth $25 trillion and rising at a CAGR of 5.8%.

Customers have recently developed a preference for speedier and more convenient payment processes. As a result, they expect the B2B payments and transaction banks to provide the same quality of service. This is why clients in the business world are highly demanding for personalization, customization, and reconstruction. 

B2B businesses are expected to incorporate finance into their own payment systems to achieve this state. This will encourage B2B buyers to form exclusive partnerships with the company that provides such an environment.

3. Biometric Authentication

As the world of payments becomes more digitalized, payment security is becoming an important subject to consider. Biometric authentication helps in the identification and authentication of individuals using data that is recognized, authentic, specific, and verifiable. Biometric authentication comes in a variety of forms.

• Fingerprint scanners
• Voice Recognition
• Facial Recognition
• Eye Retina Scanners

According to the statistics, the global contactless biometric market is expected to grow swiftly in the future. By 2021, the biometrics market can reach a size of 30.15 billion US dollars.  

4. Unified Commerce

Unified commerce refers to the combination of consumer and product data. This will help shops to present each customer with accurate and relevant information and offers. As a result, it can be described as a method of analyzing all the data and combining it into a single stream to understand client behavior better.

5. Cloud-based payments

Late payments are one of the most challenging problems for organizations to overcome, as they negatively influence their whole operations. However, Cloud technology, which is now in development, will be able to alleviate this problem. 

It will use a network of remote servers connected to the internet. Rather than using a local server, these servers store and manage data. The cloud-based digital payment system can be used for a variety of things, including:

• automated payments
• e-invoicing
• payments can be received and sent with a single click

A cloud-based ERP accounting solution gives your company the flexibility it needs to keep your financial data safe and secure. This saves a lot of time and work. You also don’t have to keep track of the bills manually. 

The cloud supports automation by decreasing manual processes and human error. Payments can be received and paid with a single click using cloud computing in addition to e-invoicing and automated payments, saving your customer relationships.

Automation allows you to have greater transparency and visibility into all of your clients’ transactions. Your customers are alerted in real-time, ensuring that their numbers are correct and eliminating the possibility of a dispute.

Conclusion

Digital payments trends like B2B payments and artificial intelligence are the future. Payment systems are likely to shift from physical cash to digitization in various ways during the next few years. But only time will tell which digital payment trend will stick around and affect the market and which will fade away.