11 Payment Stats You Need to Know for 2026

December 2025

Fintech & Payments

Lorien Carter

Senior Research Analyst

As 2025 comes to a close, one thing is certain - the future of payments will look very different this time next year. These upcoming trends and numbers show how consumer behaviour and payment technology are set to transform in 2026. 

Digital Wallets

Digital wallets are set to hit a major milestone in 2026; hitting 5 billion users worldwide. This is a remarkable rise for a technology that only entered the mainstream in the early 2010s; reaching over half the global population in a couple of decades. 

The scope of digital wallets will expand beyond payments; becoming all-in-one financial hubs that offer value-added features such as Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL), virtual cards, digital tickets, and digital identity cards. As competition intensifies to keep users engaged, gamification and super-app features will be integrated, as digital wallets strive to differentiate themselves.

Spending behaviour is also evolving. Today, the average digital wallet transaction value sits at $12.55, but this number nearly triples in wealthier regions. In North America for example, the typical wallet-based purchase reaches $37.81; reflecting a growing willingness to use wallets for higher-value transactions.

Ticketing

Although mobile ticketing only began gaining traction in the late 2000s, by 2026, 31% of people will use this technology. Mobile ticketing, typically delivered via QR codes and near-field-communication technology, allows fast, contactless entry to events, stadiums, and transport systems.

Recently, a new use case has gained popularity - airline ticketing. 1.7 million air tickets will be issued onto a mobile phone in 2026; speeding up the check-in and boarding process for travellers. 

This growth in mobile ticketing reflects the consumer experience of the phone becoming a universal access pass; allowing consumers to forego wallets, laptops, ID cards and physical tickets in the place of just one device.

Digital Identity

As the EU and the UK move further in their digital identity schemes, 4.8 billion people are forecast to have digital identity cards in 2026.

Of these, 47% will be held on a civic identity app; showing the growing consumer trust in secure, state-issued digital IDs. Growing adoption of digital IDs will simplify processes such as merchant age verification, employee and renter onboarding, and travel.

Financial Fraud

However, this growing digitalisation is matched by increasing sophistication in digital attacks; culminating in eCommerce fraud costing merchants $66.4 billion in 2026.

A growing issue within this is digital goods fraud, which is growing as a share of eCommerce fraud and will cost merchants $12.4 billion in the next year. This reflects the unique vulnerabilities of instant-delivery products such as software and subscriptions, as well as the growing threat of synthetic identity fraud when verifying transactions online.

A2A Payments

Account-to-account (A2A) transactions will undergo major growth in 2026, with $1.4 trillion worth of consumer transactions flowing directly between bank accounts.

At the same time, 1.4 billion people will be P2P A2A users; driven in part by banks stepping up their efforts to compete with money transfer apps such as PayPal. Transferring money to a friend at another bank is becoming increasingly simple as banks invest in greater interoperability. This push from banks to keep users within their own ecosystem will ensure that A2A is moving from a niche payment choice to a more mainstream option.

For merchants, consumers, and banks alike, 2026 will be a decisive year for payments.  As A2A transactions accelerate, digital identity cards and mobile ticketing become mainstream, and digital wallets evolve into all-in-one apps; the smartphone is cementing its place in the centre of every transaction and verification experience. 

Lorien is a Senior Research Analyst in the Fintech and Payments team, and specialises in analysing and forecasting emerging trends and innovations in financial markets. Her latest reports have covered topics including Fraud Detection & Prevention in Banking, Contactless Payments, and Digital Ticketing.