You don’t need to look too far to see that traditional cash is slowly becoming a relic. In 2025, both companies and consumers are changing how they transact. Remember, as technology improves, customer preferences also change. This is why fast, effective and secure payment options have been making waves in different business sectors.
Take cryptocurrencies, for instance. While many people initially associated them with investment, digital currencies are quickly being adopted as payment methods across various industries. Gone are the days when you’d remain glued to your screen only to monitor the Solana price and other tokens. Today, you can pay for coffee, book a hotel or even ship a car using digital currencies like Bitcoin.
At a time when customers are craving seamless experiences, you want to ensure your brand is as relevant as possible. Brands that take this route and optimize their payments to align with prevailing user preferences can boost conversions by 10-15%. And as more customers turn to your brand, you likely improve your business performance, leading to long-term survival.
Contactless payments are the new norm
A few years ago, tapping your card to make a payment felt futuristic. For a 20th-century merchant, this perhaps even felt like a dream that would never materialize. However, this narrative changed in the mid-1990s when South Korea introduced the UPass card for public transport in Seoul. This system allowed commuters to pay for bus trips using a contactless card, streamlining the transaction process.
Around the same time, Mobil introduced Speedpass in the US, which allowed customers to pay for fuel at gas stations using a key fob. As years have passed, more innovations have emerged, causing the global contactless payment market to expand. Just recently, Precedence Research valued the market at $56.11 billion, expecting it to exceed $213 billion by 2034.
This transaction method accounts for 60-70% of all card-based transactions in more developed regions like Europe and Australia. Thanks to mobile wallets and NFC-enabled devices, even emerging markets are rapidly catching up. NFC-enabled devices are equipped with Near Field Communication (NFC) technology, allowing them to communicate over short distances.
For small businesses, this contactless revolution has enabled quicker turnover during peak hours. Think of a busy café during morning rush—shaving even ten seconds off each transaction could allow you to serve more customers. For mobile vendors or service professionals, QR-based payments and tap-to-phone tech have slashed hardware costs and made it easier to go wherever the customer is.
Digital wallets and super apps are redefining customer relationships
PYMNTS.com recently published a report claiming that nearly half (42%) of consumers prefer conducting cross-border transactions using digital wallets. Surprisingly, this figure surpasses any other single payment method, according to the study. Apple Pay, Google Wallet, PayPal and now a slew of regional smartphone apps have become full-fledged financial ecosystems.
PayPal alone processes over 40 million payments daily. And according to Charge Flow, over 10 million live websites worldwide support this payment method. As a brand seeking to improve competitiveness, aligning with such trends can be handy. Of course, the over 10 million websites wouldn’t have adopted PayPal if it didn’t offer a competitive advantage.
On top of using these wallets to accept payments, businesses also use them to improve customer loyalty. A restaurant can push discounts directly into a customer’s digital wallet, while an online retailer auto-applies loyalty points stored within a customer’s preferred super app.
This improved experience explains the popularity of super apps like Grab or Alipay, which combine payments, messaging, ride-hailing and food delivery under one roof. In the Western world, Amazon is among the brands that are leading the charge to become a ‘do-everything’ platform.
Security is stronger and smarter
It’s no surprise that almost everyone is paying attention to online security. Studies report over 600 million daily attacks, and no one wants to transact in an environment that could expose them to these attacks. Just a single data breach could cost you significant customer losses.
According to Security Magazine, about two-thirds of shoppers may never trust you again after you get involved in a data breach. And mark you: this is besides the $4.88 million, which IBM suggests you might need to recover from these incidents. Realizing this, businesses have been working hard to provide not only seamless payment methods but also secure ones.
That’s why even digital wallets have secure features like 2FA. But again, you don’t want to secure your payment method and compromise user experience. Logging in to the platform should be as seamless as transferring the funds. Thankfully, behaviour-based security features like biometric authentication can help cater to this need for seamless experiences. All a user needs to do is tap their fingerprint scanner, and they are good to go.
At a time when customer experience has become king, it shouldn’t be surprising that businesses are turning to more effective payment technologies. Shoppers today expect smooth and fast checkout experiences and won’t tolerate clunky redirects or outdated terminals. For companies seeking to remain competitive, catering to these needs could be among the primary ways of ensuring long-term survival.
