ibi Payment Report 2026:
The Future of Payments from the Perspective of Banks and Customers

Why Added Value and Trust Will Determine the Future of Payments

Payment transactions are fundamentally changing. The ibi Payment Report 2026 shows which developments will particularly concern banks and their customers through 2030 – and why technological innovation alone is not sufficient.

How will we pay in the future? This question is becoming increasingly important for banks and financial service providers. Instant Payments, digital wallets, Wero, the Digital Euro, and Artificial Intelligence are transforming payment transactions. At the same time, regulatory requirements and customer expectations are rising.

As S&N Group, we are intensively engaged with digital transformation in the financial sector. The current ibi Payment Report 2026, which we support together with S-Payment and VR Payment, provides interesting insights into the perspectives of credit institutions and consumers.

For the report, 1,029 end customers as well as 42 specialists and executives from the payment transactions and payment areas at credit institutions were surveyed. From our perspective, the results show one thing above all: in the future, what matters is not only which technology is available, but what concrete benefit it creates for customers and institutions.

Artificial Intelligence Is Transforming Payment Transactions

According to the surveyed experts, Artificial Intelligence is developing into the most important technological innovation driver. At the same time, it becomes clear that AI in payment can be far more than a tool for process optimization.

Today, fraud prevention, compliance, and process automation are particularly at the forefront. Looking ahead, however, so-called Agentic Payments create entirely new possibilities: payment processes could increasingly be initiated and executed autonomously in the future.

More than half of the surveyed experts see many German banks still underestimating the associated disruptive potential. Among consumers, acceptance of such developments is currently still characterized by restraint.

This shows us: technological possibilities must always be combined with concrete customer benefit and a high degree of trust.

Heinz Urban, Managing Director S&N Invent GmbH

Instant Payments: More Than a Regulatory Obligation

Instant Payments have increasingly evolved from an innovation topic to a standard. More than 80 percent of surveyed consumers already have experience with real-time transfers. This raises a new question for banks: How can a now-established payment function be developed into genuine added value?

Three-quarters of the surveyed payment experts do not yet see Instant Payments alone as a sufficient opportunity for differentiation in competition. At the same time, more than seven out of ten experts have not yet identified a clear strategy by many banks for high-margin value-added services based on Instant Payments.

The mandatory Verification of Payee is positively assessed by the majority of surveyed experts and consumers. It can make an important contribution to reducing fraud risks in transfers.

In your opinion, how will the following payment-specific topics
influence or change payment transactions in general by 2030?

From our perspective, this represents a significant next development step: not the introduction of a technology alone determines its success, but the services and business models built upon it.

Heinz Urban, Managing Director S&N Invent GmbH

Wallets Are Becoming the Digital Customer Interface

Digital wallets are long since more than an additional way to store a card on a smartphone. For the surveyed experts, they are increasingly developing into a central interface between customers and financial service providers. 95 percent expect wallet usage to continue rising.

Among consumers, PayPal is clearly ahead in usage. It is followed by Klarna, Google, and Apple. The wallet or app of one’s own bank, however, is currently used by only about one in ten respondents. At the same time, nearly one-fifth of consumers currently do not use any wallet at all.

This opens up a relevant development area for credit institutions. From our perspective, the question is not only which wallet technology is deployed. What matters more is what role banks want to assume at this digital customer interface in the future.

Which of the following digital wallets do you use?

Wero: Potential in E-Commerce

Wero is also gaining importance. Following the launch with the peer-to-peer function, deployment in online retail is currently being intensively expanded. Among the surveyed credit institutions, Wero is predominantly assessed as strategically important. More than three-quarters of experts see the greatest economic potential for their own institution in e-commerce.

Among consumers, however, Wero is still at the beginning. Currently, 13 percent have a Wero account. At the same time, awareness has risen significantly since 2024. Two-thirds of consumers with a Wero account have already used Wero.

For further development, the decisive question will likely be what concrete benefit Wero offers compared to already-established payment methods. Awareness alone does not create lasting usage. Attractive features, simple application, and clear added value are, from our perspective, decisive factors for acceptance.

What strategic importance does the European payment system Wero have for your institution?

Infrastructure Remains a Central Task

Alongside new payment offerings, the technological foundation must not be lost from view. The study shows that modernization of payment transaction infrastructure remains a relevant field of action for many credit institutions. Only four out of ten surveyed experts assess their institution’s infrastructure as very well positioned. Geopolitical developments also affect the payment transaction strategies of institutions. The majority of respondents expect selective adjustments rather than fundamental changes.

For us, it is clear: innovative payment offerings require a high-performance, flexible, and future-proof IT infrastructure. Only when technology, processes, and business models work together can new possibilities be sustainably utilized.

Heinz Urban, Managing Director S&N Invent GmbH

The Future of Payment Requires Trust

From our perspective, the results of the ibi Payment Report 2026 make clear that the future of payments is not determined by a single technology. Instant Payments, wallets, Wero, the Digital Euro, and Artificial Intelligence open up new possibilities. At the same time, banks and payment service providers must find answers to questions about security, data protection, acceptance, economic viability, and concrete customer benefit. Trust thus becomes a crucial foundation for the further development of digital payment transactions.

Together with S-Payment and VR Payment, we have supported the ibi Payment Report 2026. The central finding of the study partners:

The study findings show that the “currency” for the future of payments in Germany and Europe is above all trust. Strengthening this trust is a central task for us as an industry.

Heinz Urban, Managing Director S&N Invent GmbH

Read the Complete Payment Report Now

The complete ibi Payment Report 2026 contains further results on the development of payment transactions from the perspective of banks and customers.

About ibi research

ibi research at the University of Regensburg GmbH is a Germany-wide institute for applied research in the field of the digital economy. The focus is on the topics of banking, payment, and commerce.

The institute examines innovative technologies, business models, and trends and develops practical solutions and recommendations for companies and organizations from them. The research spectrum ranges from market analyses and business model development through process design and data analytics to governance and compliance. In addition, ibi research supports companies in implementing research and project results. Here comes the content. The section named Content should contain all content. Content, that is.