Top Payment Industry Trends in 2025
Rapid evolution in the payment industry has changed customer expectations, and technology continues to move forward. Contactless payments are now the norm, and next-level applications like instant and voice payments are becoming mainstream. Here are the trends you’ll want to track in 2025.
The leading digital payments trends of 2025 all come down to speed and safety. Advancing technologies let businesses process payments more smoothly and securely, improving the customer experience along the way.
Checkout Customization
Nothing is one-size-fits-all in 2025, and customer checkouts are no exception. This year, brands are using buyer-centric checkout designs to stand out and increase completed transactions.
Current Baymard Institute data shows that customers abandon 70% of online shopping carts. Common reasons include:
- Having to create an account before purchase (26%)
- Overly complicated checkout processes (22%)
- Inability to see the total cost before paying (21%)
- Problems with the site (17%)
- Not enough payment methods (13%)
With Chargent, you can design a custom checkout that eliminates unnecessary frustration and makes it easier to click “Buy Now.” Chargent’s intuitive javascript library lets you create an on-brand, easy-to-use form that even incorporates signup data, so you don’t have to sacrifice your onboarding rate for convenience.
The Future of Subscriptions: Variable Recurring Payments (VRPs)
As the subscription economy grows, it fuels demand for more convenient payment options. Variable recurring payments (VRPs) are quickly emerging as the solution of choice.
VRPs allow customers to authorize regular payments from one account to another, with the target account usually belonging to a subscription-based business. The customer sets the payment schedule and can change or revoke authorization at any time.
Unlike traditional direct debits and recurring credit card charges, VRPs finalize instantly and involve advanced authentication, reducing the capacity for fraud. It’s a game-changer for recurring billing, especially since the amount of the charge can change within approved limits.
For subscription businesses, VRPs offer smoother transactions with fewer payment-related delays. Most importantly, they allow businesses to be more flexible in their offerings. When customers can approve payment ranges, such as “$100 to $200 per month,” instead of specific payments, businesses can provide a broader range of service options and allow for alterations to recurring charges.
Small Business, Bigger Payment Solutions
Gone are the days when only major corporations could afford to offer digital conveniences, such as e-wallet payments and fast online checkouts. Thanks to centralized payment systems, even the smallest local businesses can retain more customers with seamless checkout experiences.
With Chargent, you can say goodbye to issues like costly cart abandonment and disconnected multi-location payments. Chargent isn’t just a payment app; it’s an entire suite of payment tools that help you delight customers at checkout and beyond. With Chargent, you can:
- Tokenize payment details without saving card data to Salesforce
- Automate recurring payments in your Salesforce org
- Add payment options to your customer portal
- Simplify online payments to reduce cart abandonment
- Automate collection on missed or late payments
For the developers out there, Chargent’s developer toolbox makes it simple to customize your payment interfaces and automate payment routing, empowering you to provide big-company convenience with small business personalization.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Payment Processing
AI can process large volumes of information faster than any human. It has become a valuable addition to the digital payments industry and continues to offer more significant benefits as it advances.
Fraud Detection
AI’s ability to identify patterns makes it a crucial asset in detecting fraud. This technology can analyze the nuances of buying behavior and identify subtle red flags, such as a “customer” who purchases a four-figure item without scrolling through the description or exploring options. By flagging and potentially auto-blocking such transactions, AI could reduce the frequency and cost of fraud.
According to Wired magazine, AI’s nuanced pattern detection is critical to keeping up with today’s digital criminals. As AI gives them new ways to circumvent security, merchants need similarly advanced tools to fight back.
Ensuring Compliance
Companies are also training AI to check for regulatory compliance and flag potential issues. By scanning payment system code and policy documents, AI can check for compliance problems much faster than a human could. With the proper training, these tools can find and flag regulation misalignments before a problem arises.
AI’s data processing capability makes it even more valuable in the increasingly complex regulatory landscape. By adopting AI for compliance screening, online merchants can stay ahead of changes and reduce the need for manual verification.
Enhancing User Experiences
Wired magazine also describes companies using AI to design shoppable chatbots, including customer service bots that can accept payments in the chat. For example, customers could receive a message about an upcoming or past-due bill and pay instantly without visiting a website.
Voice-Activated Payments
Now that contactless payments have entered the mainstream, voice payments represent the next stage in payment evolution. The transportation industry stands out as an early adopter, with transit agencies and rideshare companies offering it as a convenience.
Voice payments offer the security of biometric authentication, using voice timbre as an identifier like a fingerprint to enhance payment security. The convenience factor is also significant, allowing people to place orders without even picking up a phone.
The market size for voice-activated payments has already reached $7.56 billion thanks to the increasingly commonplace nature of smart devices with virtual assistants like Siri. Experts predict a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11.22% over the next 10 years.
How Businesses Can Adapt
Staying ahead of payment technologies demonstrates your customer-centric commitment. As 2025 progresses and payments industry trends evolve, here’s how to keep current.
Prioritizing Compliance
Compliance regulations exist to protect you and your customers against fraud. Show your commitment to security with transparent adherence to all applicable rules, including the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS). Document everything you do to stay up to date, and always work with a company like Chargent that takes compliance seriously.
Leveraging APIs for Seamless Operations
Application programming interfaces (APIs) reduce friction across your digital systems. For example, Chargent’s Payments API connects payments from your external systems like Stripe to Salesforce, supporting seamless transactions.
How Chargent Is Staying Up to Date
Chargent customers can breathe easy knowing their payment processing will always align with industry best practices.
Subscription Management
Chargent also simplifies recurring billing by automating subscription data within Salesforce. Use the Payment Console to process regular payments from your chosen source on any schedule. Your customers will receive uninterrupted service, and you will enjoy a steady revenue stream.
Compliance Tools in Salesforce
The PCI DSS is an ever-present requirement in payment processing. By processing payments through Salesforce, our customers enjoy the security of each org’s PCI DSS certification.
That certificate covers most Salesforce users’ PCI compliance requirements. Chargent also provides customers with resources to ensure compliance, even as threats evolve.
Future-Proof Your Payment Processes
Chargent helps you stay up to date with payment processing industry trends with convenient APIs, real-time payments, and committed attention to compliance. Get started today with your 30-day free trial.