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Top five digital payment trends of 2023

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The GoCardless content team comprises a group of subject-matter experts in multiple fields from across GoCardless. The authors and reviewers work in the sales, marketing, legal, and finance departments. All have in-depth knowledge and experience in various aspects of payment scheme technology and the operating rules applicable to each. The team holds expertise in the well-established payment schemes such as UK Direct Debit, the European SEPA scheme, and the US ACH scheme, as well as in schemes operating in Scandinavia, Australia, and New Zealand. See full bio

Last editedMar 20233 min read

When it comes to money and the way that we make payments, things are constantly in flux. The ongoing digitization of payments is a fundamental shift, and it’s no surprise that Americans are engaging with new digital payment methods in a multitude of ways. We’ve put together a guide to the five digital payment trends that are reshaping business operations in 2023.

Widespread adoption of biometric payment authentication

It feels like we’ve been hearing about the mainstreaming of biometric payment authentication for a while now, but with identity theft and fraud an ever-present risk for consumers using digital payment methods, 2023 could be the year that this digital payment trend really comes into its own. From fingerprint scans and iris recognition to vein mapping and heartbeat analysis, there is a broad range of biometric payment authentication methods that businesses can use to boost efficiency and security and build customer trust in their brand.

Digital wallets aren’t going anywhere

The number of consumers relying on digital wallets doesn’t look like dipping any time soon. According to McKinsey’s 2022 Digital Payments Consumer Survey, there’s been a significant increase in the share of consumers intending to use more than three digital wallets over the years to come (18% in 2021 to 30% in 2022). By and large, consumers tend to opt for nonbanks – such as PayPal, Google Pay, and Apple Pay – when selecting a provider for their digital wallet. In addition, consumers don’t just value payment functionality, they also look for compatibility with their existing apps and access to a range of additional financial services (such as wealth management, loans, and so on). Bottom line: expect the battle for digital wallet users to heat up as nonbanks and banks go head to head to secure this booming customer base.

Ongoing BNPL penetration

Buy now, pay later (BNPL) is one of the key digital payment trends to pay attention to in 2023. Because of its easy repayment process and affordability, BNPL is a short-term financing option that’s becoming increasingly popular among consumers. Plus, BNPL helps merchants maximize their revenue, making it a convenient option for everyone involved in the process. According to Juniper Research, the number of BNPL users could exceed 900 million by 2027, meaning that it could be increasingly beneficial for businesses to offer the option of BNPL financing at checkout.

AI and machine learning-enhanced payment security

Consumers will always gravitate towards the payment method that offers the most protection against fraud and cybercrime, which is why security is top of the agenda for payment technologies across the world. Increasingly, banks are reliant on the help of machine learning to detect and eliminate threats. Feeding their software with new transaction data all the time to help iterate its fraud detection capabilities, ML technology is getting better and better at identifying fraudulent transactions in real-time. The future of digital payments is likely to position artificial intelligence-backed security as a crucial element in world-leading payment technologies.

Payment intelligence products, like GoCardless Protect+

We’ve already mentioned the rise of ML-backed payment security as one of the most important digital payment trends of 2023, but it’s worth specifically highlighting one product – GoCardless Protect+ –an anti-fraud solution built specifically for bank payments. Having processed bank debit payments for over a decade, GoCardless has built up an industry-leading bank of payment intelligence data that’s based on tens of billions worth of payments. Using this data, GoCardless has built out a four-pronged approach to combating payment fraud:

Detect fraudulent payers
Verify risky payers
Monitor fraud patterns
Challenge unfair chargebacks

Because it's built on payment intelligence, GoCardless Protect+ can adapt over time to changing payer behavior, helping to identify fraudulent and risky payers even if the tactics or approach that they’re using changes. In short, it’s a digital payment tool you want in your corner in the fight against payment fraud.

Last word

The future of digital payments is already here, and over the coming years, we can expect to see cashlessness rise and the transition to wholly digitalpaymentmethods continue at pace. There are plenty of digital payment trends we haven’t touched on, from ongoing consumer interest in mobile point of sale and contactless to the crypto comeback after a fairly disastrous 2022, and with new trends always appearing and disappearing, it’s worth keeping your ear to the ground and staying up to date on the latest digital payment trends. Ultimately, understanding what’s driving consumer payment preferences can help your business deliver the best payment experience to your customers, giving you the foundation to succeed into 2023 and beyond.

We can help

GoCardless is a global payments solution that helps you automate payment collection, cutting down on the amount of financial admin your team needs to deal with. Find out how GoCardless can help you with one-off or recurring payments.