Implants, AI and the No-cash Generation – Will Payments in 2030 Be a Dystopia or a Utopia?
Marqeta, a global card issuing platform, released an industry study titled The European Payments Landscape in 2030, in collaboration with Consult Hyperion. This study explores future payment innovations and ethical considerations, highlighting trends like AI-driven wallets and microchip implants. Key findings from a consumer survey reveal significant consumer interest in futuristic payment methods, with 51% open to microchip implants. However, concerns about disappearing cash and exclusion for certain demographics also arise. The study underscores the need for regulators to adapt to the rapid pace of innovation in the payments sector.
- 51% of surveyed consumers would consider using microchip implants for payments.
- 31% of 18-24-year-olds would trust AI for ethical payment decisions.
- The study identifies emerging trends that could drive innovation in the payments landscape.
- 35% of consumers worry that cashless transactions may hinder financial education for younger generations.
- 75% of those aged 65+ feel pressured to abandon cash due to contactless payment environments.
- 91% of respondents expressed concerns over potential AI bias in financial services.
New industry study explores the future of payments – from embedding ethics into transactions, to whether machine learning will make financial education redundant
The insights from the workshops were further enriched with the findings of a 2,037 consumer survey done by Propeller Insights on behalf of
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Tribes and implants: By 2030, ‘tribes’ and influencers may play a key role in driving payment adoption – we are already seeing the start of this, with companies using social influencers to get its brand out. Many consumers already seem willing to embrace futuristic payment methods, with
51% of consumers surveyed saying they would consider using a microchip implant to pay. Could adoption of such ‘extreme’ technologies be further encouraged by the sway of influencers and tribes? -
AI and embedded ethics: Consumers’ love of convenience may see spending controls handed over to AI-powered smart wallets making automated decisions on everything from selecting the cheapest way to pay, to the most ethical. By embedding ethical behaviour into transactions, the payments space can take on a unique role in incentivising both consumers and companies to be more conscious. There is already some appetite for this, with
31% of 18–24-year-old respondents saying they would be comfortable with AI making automated decisions on their behalf to choose the most ethical way to pay. -
Ambient commerce reigns: Payments may become increasingly invisible as we move to more “ambient” models of commerce – such as the recent emergence of till-less grocery stores. By 2030, this will evolve even further so there will be no cards or payments devices. Instead, a person’s biometric data would be captured by cameras, along with the item they are purchasing and sent directly to their bank. While (
32% ) of surveyed consumers find the idea of ambient commerce ‘creepy,’ experts believe given how quickly Uber and the like have been accepted as a norm, the convenience would soon win people over. -
The no-cash generation: As cash disappears, there could be a generation that has never held physical money. This surfaces serious questions over how societies educate children about the value of money. This is already a concern for many consumers today, with
35% of respondents admitting they worry that the young people they know who don’t use cash will struggle with learning to budget or to save without physical cash. - Digital responsibility: As we continue to move away from physical payment methods, and as the number of digital products and services on offer continue to multiply, digital responsibility may be a key focus for regulators. Digital responsibility means ensuring that new digital products and services are developed with consumer wellbeing in mind and don’t misuse data or encourage harmful habits, such as overspending.
“If the past two years have taught us anything, it’s that no one can predict the future,” said
Taking the thinking out of payments with AI – is there any need for financial education?
The emergence of smart, AI-driven wallets as a mainstream form of payment raised an engaging debate among experts around the future role of financial education. Could technology that removes the need to ‘think’, making decisions on your behalf, be preferable to having an active role in understanding and managing finances and payments?
“We need to create behavioural mechanics, behavioural economics that change people's behaviour to become financially healthy,” said
However,
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A third
34% of respondents would be comfortable with making payment decisions on the most affordable method to pay for goods or services -
Only
22% of respondents would be comfortable with AI selecting the most ethical way to pay -
Just
21% of respondents would be comfortable with AI choosing which currency to pay in
Disappearing cash and the exclusion problem
Disappearing cash raises concerns for many around exclusion, with ‘cash tribes’ of people who find it difficult to move to digital payments, or who simply do not want to – such as the elderly, the unbanked, and digital sceptics.
Product design was noted as an area of potential discrimination for such groups – in particular, the elderly. “There are all sorts of technologies that have biases against people who are older,” said
But is it possible that, by 2030, digital currencies could be built to be inclusive for all? Some workshop attendees believed that Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) could be an antidote to the exclusive implications that come with the decline of cash. However, education is needed if this is to become a reality.
Regulation must stop playing catch up
Currently, the pace of innovation in payments is far outstripping that at which regulation can move. With so much scope for error – from prolific fraud to loss of money – regulators must not just catch up, but get ahead. It was noted that progress is being made. For example, the EU recently proposed AI regulation to pre-emptively tackle issues around bias and ethics – a topic that was front of mind for consumers surveyed,
However, by 2030 the challenges and areas of concern that regulators face will likely have multiplied. For instance, the possibility of an outage caused by a sophisticated, state-backed attack, is becoming increasingly likely. Regulators must prepare for this eventuality and help build systemic resilience into the payments sector.
“When it comes to regulation, we need to not look from the point of where we are now, but from where we’re going,” said
Johnson argues that flexibility in payment infrastructure will be vital to delivering a vibrant future of payments: “While the future is a mystery, one thing is for certain: the most ambitious and innovative payment methods will be those that are underpinned by agility and the ability to make automatic, real-time decisions,” says Marqeta’s
European Payments in 2030 Report
To download Marqeta’s European Payments Landscape in 2030 report visit: https://www.marqeta.com/resources/resource/the-european-payments-landscape-in-2030
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