A new era of payments brings strategic opportunities – if institutions are ready to take advantage

October 2025 | SPOTLIGHT | BANKING & FINANCE

Financier Worldwide Magazine

October 2025 Issue

The payments industry is undergoing its fastest transformation in decades. As corporations take advantage of opportunities to weave an array of financial capabilities from mobile wallets to real-time payment rails into e-commerce and enterprise platforms, they are redefining how money moves.

For consumers, the result is simple, faster, safer and more convenient transactions. For banks, the opportunity and the challenge are far greater.

Evolving consumer expectations, technological innovation and new regulatory frameworks are pushing financial institutions (FIs) to reimagine not just how they process payments, but how they deliver value across the entire client relationship.

Those that adapt quickly and strategically will gain a competitive edge. Those that lag risk being left behind as they lose market share and diminish market perceptions.

Real benefits are emerging from bank-fintech partnerships

For the banking industry, partnerships with fintech firms offer ways to meet evolving client needs and address new market segments. Fintechs can provide access to instant payment rails that extend digital transactions to previously underbanked or unbanked populations.

At the same time, forward-looking banks are looking for ways to leverage embedded finance to support new business models and expand revenue streams, for example by expanding payment options. In addition, banks can now leverage new streams of data that can provide both strategic guidance and a solid foundation for additional transformation, both for themselves and their clients.

In this complex and fast-moving environment, FIs would do well to understand the current state of play so they can select fintech partners judiciously as they adapt their vision and strategy.

Partnerships between banks and fintechs have long offered a logical path to success for both parties. In both cases, partners avoid having to reinvent the wheel: fintechs can move quickly, finding new ways to make the client transaction experience seamless. Behind the scenes, bank rails actually move funds where they need to go. Thanks to banks’ experience, direct access to payment channels and established compliance frameworks, it is possible to clear transactions in more ways and more places than ever before.

These partnerships are now powering enough commerce to produce tangible revenue streams for both parties. Digital wallets alone accounted for $41 trillion in global payments during 2024, according to DATOS Insights.

The continued expansion of real-time payment and collection rails has allowed banks and their partners to reach new users in new markets, particularly in Asia and Africa. At the same time, the growth of instant payment rails in developed markets has begun to spur migration of legacy automated clearing house traffic to real-time options.

These tangible benefits look like just the beginning of a technological revolution in banking. With fintechs’ introduction of artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled functionality to mobile app and digital wallet offerings, the client experience continues to improve. Enhanced security is helping banks become more resilient in the fight against fraud, without creating excess friction for clients doing legitimate business.

Personalised service offerings anticipate client needs and offer solutions to problems clients may not have even identified yet. All of these advancements continue to drive client satisfaction and loyalty. But they also drive higher client expectations – and banks may not always take those expectations into account across their entire footprint.

Closing the experience gap for corporate and commercial clients

Historically, digital transformation has been uneven across banking segments. While retail banking has worked to give consumers more opportunities to pay for things however and whenever they want, corporate and commercial clients still regularly face last-mile challenges with their payment solutions.

Some of these shortcomings have to do with the more complicated nature of corporate finances, which may require payment or receipt of funds in remote locations without established banking infrastructure, where physical drop-off and collection points can be a challenge to manage.

Nevertheless, banks only have a limited time to close these gaps in commercial clients’ experiences. The people who run companies are also retail consumers. They know what is possible in their personal transactions – and expect the same speed, transparency and flexibility in their corporate dealings.

Fortunately, many banks are working with local regulators and institutions in industries with established infrastructure – like telecommunications – to generate regulatory frameworks and provide basic banking services in harder-to-reach markets. By pairing those capabilities with digital payment tools that integrate with corporate clients’ existing systems, banks can offer their commercial clients attractive last-mile payment delivery and collection alternatives.

When the right partners are involved, these cooperative efforts can support the wide variety of instant payment rails across the world. Mobile wallets can enable journalists to pay their hotel bills wherever they are, or allow non-governmental organisations to distribute aid instantly in remote areas. Virtual accounts help nonprofits and corporates manage donations and collections with full transparency for audit and compliance.

Real-time payments and data offer strategic opportunities

Opportunities to leverage fintech partnerships that deliver real-time payment capabilities extend beyond simply bringing corporate treasury services to par with retail banking. Banks that can diversify into enhanced payment capabilities that offer to solve persistent issues for their corporate and treasury management clients will have access to an expanded client base with incremental revenue streams.

Furthermore, real-time data is no longer a ‘nice to have’ commodity. It is essential for modern treasury. Clients of banks that offer real-time payments are benefitting from the ensuing real-time data streams, that can improve their forecasting and strategic decision making.

Banks and their fintech partners can deploy AI solutions to mine historical trends and help predict a company’s future needs. Access to real-time data can also help firms anticipate the potential impact of changes in policy, trade or foreign exchange, which can make them more resilient in the face of uncertainty.

Strengthening internal capabilities to pick the right partners

Taking advantage of opportunities in the real-time payment space requires banks to do more than just pick the right partners today. An internal ‘brain trust’ that helps evaluate and integrate fintech partnerships is critical.

Banks need people who understand what is happening in the fintech world, which partners can provide the tools they need and how those partnerships can produce results for the bank’s broad client base, including those in treasury management, corporate and business to business spaces, as well as retail clients.

That level of skill and knowledge does not come about by accident or overnight. Given the current workforce, banks need additional resources to understand what exists and think about where it could go. Banks could develop a strategic partnership group aligned to business or product teams that are already cataloguing and solving for existing and anticipated client needs.

The importance of leveraging real-time data also puts a premium on teams that understand how to incorporate AI into processes and existing tools. In many FIs, the AI team already receives funding and attention at high levels.

It is important to ensure that the group’s work is aligned tightly with business needs across the entire bank. Doing so can help shape strategic direction so that resources go to areas that improve competitive differentiation and produce revenue.

Opportunities come with challenges

While the opportunities in real-time payments and fintech collaboration are significant, they come with challenges. Regulatory fragmentation across jurisdictions, cyber security risks and operational complexities can slow progress. FIs must balance innovation with robust risk management frameworks to protect clients and safeguard trust.

It is equally important to maintain a clear strategic vision. Technology for its own sake rarely delivers sustainable value. Successful banks will focus on solutions that not only enhance the client experience but also align with their long-term growth strategy.

Transformation is a journey

The real-time payments revolution is not a single project – it is an ongoing journey. Success will require more than adopting new technology. It demands a mindset shift: to think bigger, move faster and partner smarter.

FIs that integrate payments innovation across business lines – beyond just retail – will see the biggest gains over the long run. They may also find themselves setting the bar for the rest of the industry.

Amy Beninato is executive director and Karen Hom is managing director at Standard Chartered Americas.

Amy Beninato and Karen Hom

Standard Chartered Americas