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Agentic AI gains momentum: As Amazon, Walmart, eBay and others experiment with AI agents, retailers need to to figure out how to market to bots in addition to humans.

Alleged conflict of interest: Elon Musk just struck a deal with Visa to offer a digital wallet and peer-to-peer payment service. This raises questions about the advantages Musk will have as a competitor to banking and payments firms, especially with a newly weakened regulatory environment.

Reeling from 2024’s challenges, financial institutions must embrace bold strategies in 2025 to future-proof their businesses in a landscape plagued by economic, competitive, and regulatory pressures.

Google has entered the AI shopping arena: The company’s AI Mode experience aims to assist consumers throughout every step of the shopping experience—from finding inspiration to buying at the right moment.

The news: Apple’s F1: The Movie made $144 million globally in its opening weekend, becoming the company’s first box office success after prior flops. With standout reviews and marketing synced across the Apple ecosystem, the Brad Pitt-led film was driven by premium formats like IMAX and high youth turnout. Our take: F1 validates Apple’s blockbuster ambitions, but success here is about more than ticket sales. It’s a brand-building tool, aimed at strengthening Apple TV+ and its wider services. Turning big-screen moments into lasting streaming growth is the next test—especially as Apple balances cost, competition, and the evolving economics of global theatrical releases.

Payment providers are investing in AI to help streamline and personalize both the merchant and customer experiences

The company is shifting its strategies to achieve greater profitability, but investors still aren’t impressed

Just a third of adults in Canada will use mobile peer-to-peer (P2P) payments this year, and adoption will barely grow through 2027. Mobile banking apps and digital wallets must rethink their strategies to capture P2P users—making the most of a population that doesn’t yet have strong P2P brand loyalty.

Consumers are slowly making changes to how they pay at checkout. We look at the top seven payment methods and delve into what’s pushing forward and detracting from their growth.

Epic Games forced Apple to unwind App Store rules, setting a precedent that weakens Apple’s payment monopoly and threatens its fastest-growing services revenue stream.

At Cannes Lions 2025, commerce media partnerships once again reigned supreme. Once the domain of digital shelf tactics and retail data, commerce media is now reshaping how brands show up across social platforms, connected TV (CTV), and in-store displays. This year’s festival offered a glimpse into a more integrated, AI-driven future—one where conversational ads, programmatic pipes, and real-world touchpoints blur the lines between media and purchase.

In-store payments provide a new growth avenue for BNPL providers facing slower industrywide volume growth

Even so, issuers may be slow to lift preemptive APR increases as they brace for economic turbulence

This leaves the BNPL industry back at square one in terms of regulation, creating uncertainty for providers

Retail media ad spending in France, Germany, and the UK continues to rise, outpacing all other ad formats. The space is developing rapidly despite fragmentation and a lack of standards.

Remittances represent a large share of global payments and will keep growing—although at a flat rate. Traditional money transfer organizations have to fight harder for a share of the prize as digital-only entrants have stepped up the competition.

Apple will soon open up its near-field communication (NFC) tech to third-party digital wallets in the US and will let iPhone users choose their default contactless payments app.

US retail sales via mobile wallets are growing much faster than overall sales. To meet this demand, wallet providers must address consumer expectations and solve growth hurdles.

Along with expanded access to Pay with Venmo and a buzzy ad campaign, Venmo is trying to reach key demographics.

This bodes well for fintechs trying to build out their financial services offerings.