The pandemic accelerated payments industry digitization across the entire landscape, as merchants turned to ecommerce to keep doors open, consumers eschewed cash in favor of electronic and contactless payments, and payments technology providers rapidly developed and launched new solutions to keep up.

The tech giant hopes digital COVID-19 vaccine cards, dynamic CVVs, and expanded acceptance will bring skeptical iPhone owners into its payments ecosystem.

The payfac model has catapulted into the mainstream, thanks to payments disruptors like PayPal, Square, and Stripe. The growth in the number of payfacs, and in the payment volume passing through them, is reshaping key relationships within the payments ecosystem. But the model bears some drawbacks for the diverse swath of companies adopting it, as well as for the merchants that work with them.

Residents in eight states will soon be able to add their drivers licenses or state IDs to the Apple Wallet, which might help convert more iPhone owners to Apple Pay users and keep existing users within Apple’s payments ecosystem.

Related content: Interested in learning more about BNPL and its position in the payments space? Check out the Alternative Credit section of The Payments Ecosystem report.

CBDCs could change how consumers make mobile and digital payments—they’re meant to be platform and technology agnostic, potentially challenging the leading positions Ant and Tencent have built by operating payments ecosystems that aren’t interoperable. The Chinese government’s regulatory crackdown has hit Ant and Tencent hard.

The payfac model is a framework that allows merchant-facing companies to embed card payments into their software—which in turn enables their customers to process payments.

The installment lending solution helps Amazon boost ecommerce sales and break further into India’s payment space—and it may also help the etailer capitalize on the global buy now, pay later market.

Zelle’s processed a whopping 436 million transactions worth $120 billion, and as the peer-to-peer payments space expands, it can target small businesses to capture more market share and grow its business.

This was seen as the first domino to fall toward breaking up the firms’ tight hold on their developer, payment, and app ecosystems. The EU, the UK, and India are also zeroing in on Apple’s App Store dominance. What’s next? Apple is expected to seek a review to keep the injunction from going into effect, and Epic Games already appealed the second ruling.

Mobile proximity and peer-to-peer (P2P) payments have hit the mainstream, thanks to a pandemic-driven upswing in digital payments that is set to last. This trend is leading providers to diversify their offerings and compete for share of the market.

Go deeper: Check out “The Buy Now, Pay Later Report” to learn more about Klarna's position in the BNPL ecosystem and growth tactics it's used to get ahead—and how all of this stacks up against competitors like Afterpay and Affirm.

Blockchain can reduce the time for cross-border payments from days to four to six seconds on average while also reducing transaction costs, per Insider Intelligence’s Blockchain in Payments report. It’s part of a broader crypto ecosystem Jack Dorsey is trying to build.

The opportunity: Businesses across the ecommerce, payments, and media ecosystems can seize opportunities associated with “double-digit” sales festivals to create value for consumers and drive revenues. China’s online shopping festivals are spreading to Southeast Asia.

The prepaid digital payment system caters to essential transactions like medical payments and food vouchers and can help increase financial inclusion for the country’s unbanked population.

The mobile peer-to-peer (P2P) space has grown in popularity over the years, thanks in large part to three key players that are propelling immense growth in both users and payment transaction value.