Each year, our Advanced Payments and Fintech Report provides a comprehensive view of the latest trends defining the payments landscape. Now in its 18th edition, the report examines 14 themes across four domains, highlighting how innovation, evolving business models, and shifting consumer expectations are driving rapid industry change. In 2025, AI, digital identity, embedded finance, and emerging infrastructure are shaping how money moves, how businesses operate, and how consumers interact with financial services.

In this episode of the EDC Podcast, host Davide sits down with Tue To, head of Edgar, Dunn & Company’s Fintech practice, to explore the 18th edition of the Advanced Payments and Fintech Report. They dive into the trends reshaping payments and fintech, from AI-driven orchestration and agentic AI to subscription BNPL, connected car payments, and embedded finance. Tue explains how these innovations are making payments faster, smarter, and more seamless, and why consumer trust and convenience are now essential for business success.

They also unpack the big numbers behind these trends, including $6 trillion in retail stablecoin transactions and the $5.7 trillion SME financing gap, and what these mean for businesses and consumers. Tue shares how AI, biometrics, and digital IDs are transforming onboarding and fraud prevention, why collaboration between fintechs and banks is key, and how payments are evolving from a back-office utility into a strategic growth engine. Tune in for a forward-looking conversation on the future of payments and the trends shaping 2026.

In this episode:

How AI is turning payment systems into smart, self-optimizing tools
Why agentic AI, BNPL, and connected car payments are no longer just experiments
How biometrics and digital IDs are making onboarding faster and safer
Why fintechs and banks need to collaborate or risk falling behind
The growing role of stablecoins and digital currencies in everyday payments
Trust and convenience are now make-or-break for businesses

Resources:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tue-to-541a214

Website: http://www.edgardunn.com/

Report: https://www.edgardunn.com/reports/advanced-payments-and-fintech-report

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