2025 in review: As 2025 wraps, we’re taking stock of what changed in the payments industry and assessing how our predictions we made last year panned out.

The main trends we anticipated to see in 2025 included:

• Real time “pay by bank” payments land at online checkout.
• Mobile wallets will adopt NFC technology.
• Flexible credentials will aid consumers’ different desired payment methods via card.
• Financial media networks (FMN) will be on the rise.

Of course, not all of our predictions hit the mark. Below, we look at what we didn’t quite get right—and explain what happened instead.

Prediction 1: Amazon will follow Walmart’s lead by trialing a real-time pay by bank solution.

• While Amazon shoppers can already pay by bank, real-time solutions like FedNow have still yet to materialize at the etailer’s checkout.
• Major retailers instead may explore other payment methods to get around credit card fees, like stablecoins—especially in the post-GENIUS Act environment.

Prediction 2: Walmart will pilot a pay by bank cash-back and discount rewards program for customers. 

• Walmart did not debut a pay by bank cash-back and discount rewards program during 2025, possibly because it prioritized revamping OnePay and relaunching its co-brand credit card portfolio with Synchrony.
• The retailer also leaned into payment partnerships to encourage more spend, including a major tie-up with Klarna.