5 Hot Payment Trends Changing the Way You Shop In 2024

Digital transformation has brought sweeping changes to the payments industry, helping to transform the way consumers shop both online and in-store. With 2024 set to drive sweeping improvements throughout the field of data security and payment flexibility, customer experience (CX) models appear set to change forever over the coming months. 

From payment modernization to enhanced security and everything in between, the payments landscape is evolving at a rapid pace. So much so that the digital payment market is projected to reach a value of $24.31 trillion by 2030, representing a CAGR of 15.20% throughout the decade. 

What impact will this growth have on the consumer experience and the ways in which we can shop online? Let’s take a deeper look at five of the hottest payment trends that are set to grow CX in eCommerce and brick-and-mortar retail in 2024: 

The Arrival of Biometrics

One of the biggest innovations of 2024 will revolve around the continued emergence of biometric authentication for purchases.

While consumers will be familiar with facial recognition for mobile payment services like Apple Pay and Google Pay, we’ll see the emergence of more advanced authentication technologies in addition to the likes of face ID and fingerprint scanning with the implementation of iris scans and vein mapping to verify access to payment systems. 

Although vein mapping may sound like something from the realm of science fiction, the payment method has already been implemented at Whole Foods and could pave the way for a future where biometrics replace the need for a credit card or smartphone to make payments. 

Generative AI Fraud Management

The battle against payment fraud intensifies with each passing year. Instances of Authorized Push Payment (APP) fraud have accelerated to the point where as many as 20% of consumers worldwide have been victims of some form of payment fraud, with more than a quarter of this figure caused by APP. 

Generative AI has emerged to provide next-generation solutions to detect and mitigate instances of fraud. 

Crucially, generative AI offers a fresh solution for identifying fraud. One key issue today is that fraud detection systems have too few genuine or strong fraud cases to analyze and learn from. However, generative technology can create synthetic data that replicates the patterns created by fraudulent activity to utilize more hands-on models to learn and build from.

This can help to bring more security for consumers both online and in-store and pave the way for greater protection from fraudulent activity moving forward.  

POS Continues Its Evolution

The advancement of point of sale (POS) technology in the US has reached the stage where more merchants will spend 2024 seeking out next-generation devices to improve the experience of customers as well as in-house staff. 

Driving POS innovation will be the necessity of complying with PCI DSS 4.0, which stipulates that firms adhere to new payment data security requirements by 2025.

This means we’ll see more stores unlocking the potential of modern POS devices within the payments industry over the coming months, which can help to drive omnichannel capabilities and unlock a greater array of analytical insights into customer behavior. This, in turn, can leverage more focused customer segmentation and personalization to improve the experience of customers. 

Payments in the Age of Web 3.0

Web 3.0 will become a driving force of digital transformation within the payments landscape, and will help to incorporate next-generation technologies like blockchain and natural language processing (NLP) to help create a more secure and frictionless environment for transactions. 

The leading appeal of Web 3.0 payments is decentralization, which has the potential to automate transactions and execute payments without the need for middlemen through the use of smart contracts.

For customers, the continued emergence of Web 3.0 payments will help to foster a seamless environment for transactions, and lower fees associated with contactless payments for businesses, helping to keep costs more competitive for consumers. 

The Rise of P2P Payments

One of the biggest payment trends for 2024 is fast becoming peer-to-peer (P2P) payments. P2P payment apps are open banking tools that allow users to send money directly to another person. 

Platforms like Venmo and PayPal have made P2P payments more accessible than ever, and the technology will continue to become more sophisticated over the coming months. 

The reason P2P payments are becoming more functional is that they serve a key purpose in improving CX and offer an unprecedented level of convenience in the field of social consumerism. 

Imagine that you’ve booked a hotel for an overnight stay with a friend on a city break. Open banking P2P platforms can make splitting the bill seamless and have all kinds of applications for online shopping and hospitality. 

The Rise and Rise of CX in 2024

For both online and brick-and-mortar shopping, 2024 is setting the stage for the emergence of a more agile, secure, and frictionless payments ecosystem. 

The development of these advanced structures can facilitate stronger growth within the sector and pave the way for more seamless Web 3.0 integrations as the technology continues to advance. 

For consumers, the future of payments will be safer and faster than ever before. Likewise, for the businesses that adopt next-generation technology, the utility of these new payments trends can help to drive greater customer satisfaction and loyalty more sustainably.