{"id":8625,"date":"2026-08-10T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-10T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/intnews.it\/?p=8625"},"modified":"2026-08-07T09:49:26","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T09:49:26","slug":"digital-payments-explained-trends-tech-the-e-euro","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/intnews.it\/en\/digital-payments-explained-trends-tech-the-e-euro\/","title":{"rendered":"Digital Payments Explained: Trends, Tech &amp; the e-Euro"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n<iframe width=\"100%\" height=\"100%\"src=\"https:\/\/iframe.mediadelivery.net\/embed\/511677\/41e3352f-6973-45b7-9f7c-f0437e6536a9\" loading=\"lazy\" allow=\"accelerometer;gyroscope;encrypted-media;picture-in-picture;\" allowfullscreen=\"true\"><\/iframe>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Digital payments cover every transaction made without physically exchanging cash: cards, smartphones, wearables, online accounts and, increasingly, central bank digital currencies. In 2026 the sector is moving along three parallel lines: payment tools are becoming dematerialised, they are disappearing into the background of the buying experience, and money itself is becoming programmable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Contents<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>What digital payments are<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>From cash to contactless: the timeline<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>How a card payment actually works<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Biometric payments: face and palm<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Embedded finance: when payment disappears<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The digital euro: where things stand<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Crypto and stablecoins in everyday payments<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Subdermal microchips: real or science fiction?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Cashless Italy: the real numbers<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Security: fraud, SCA and AI-powered scams<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>FAQ and payments in 2035<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What digital payments are (definition)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Digital payments are value transactions carried out electronically, with no exchange of banknotes or coins. They include physical and virtual cards, instant transfers, smartphone wallets, direct debits and, looking ahead, central bank digital currencies such as the digital euro.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Three trends define the current phase. The first is dematerialisation: the payment instrument stops being a physical object and becomes data stored on a device or in the cloud. The second is invisibility: paying increasingly becomes an implicit step inside another action, getting out of a car, leaving a shop, closing a voice order, rather than a standalone gesture. The third is programmability: digital money can carry rules with it, conditional payments, recurring charges, payments delegated to a software agent, something physical cash simply cannot do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">From cash to contactless: the timeline<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The path that led to today&#8217;s payments is shorter than it looks: in roughly forty years the industry moved from the magnetic-stripe card to the invisible payment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><thead><tr><td><strong>Decade<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>Dominant technology<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>What changes<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/thead><tbody><tr><td>1980s-1990s<\/td><td>Magnetic-stripe card<\/td><td>Electronic payment enters shops, but requires a signature or PIN on dedicated terminals<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>2000s<\/td><td>EMV chip<\/td><td>A more secure standard against cloning, wider POS adoption<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>2010s<\/td><td>NFC and contactless<\/td><td>Just tap a card or phone: payment drops under 2 seconds<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>2020s<\/td><td>Wallets and apps<\/td><td>Cards and cash stay in the drawer: people pay with a phone or a watch<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>2025-2026<\/td><td>Instant and agentic payments<\/td><td>Real-time transfers, pan-European wallets, first tests of AI-delegated payments<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>According to the Politecnico di Milano&#8217;s Innovative Payments Observatory, digital payments in Italy reached a total transaction value of \u20ac518 billion in 2025, up 7% on 2024: 45% of consumer spending is now settled electronically, versus 38% in cash.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How a card payment actually works<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Behind a simple tap-to-pay, several parties coordinate in under two seconds. The merchant relies on an acquirer, the bank that provides the POS terminal and collects the payment on its behalf. The customer has an issuer, the bank that issued the card and authorises or declines the charge. In between sits the card network (Visa, Mastercard, or domestic schemes like Bancomat), which routes the request between the two banks in a fraction of a second.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A key step is tokenisation: the real card number almost never travels across the network. In its place a token circulates, a substitute code valid only for that device or that transaction, which makes intercepted data useless. It is the same technique that keeps phone payments secure even if the device itself is lost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Biometric payments: face and palm<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The step beyond the card is removing the device altogether: paying with a part of the body. Amazon One, the palm-scanning system rolled out in the group&#8217;s physical stores, is the best-known example: you register your palm once and then use it as both payment method and identification. Similar trials are underway in China with facial recognition at metro gates, and in Europe in pilot contexts across public transport and large retail chains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The real obstacle is not technical but social: handing biometric data, unique and, unlike a password, impossible to change, to a commercial network raises questions of consent, data retention and revocability that a credit card never had to answer. The concept links directly to the &#8220;invisible checkout&#8221; popularised by Amazon Go: you walk out of the store and get charged with no explicit payment action at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Embedded finance: when payment disappears<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Embedded finance is the integration of financial services, payment, credit, insurance, inside a product or app that is not natively financial. A ride-hailing app that automatically charges the fare at the end of a trip, or a marketplace offering instalment payment at checkout without redirecting to a third-party bank, are both embedded finance: payment stops being a separate step in the experience and becomes one of its hidden properties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Search interest in &#8220;what is embedded finance&#8221; is growing mostly on the B2B side, where business software and e-commerce platforms increasingly embed corporate accounts and cards directly into their own product, so the end user never interacts with a bank in the traditional sense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The digital euro: where things stand<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The digital euro is the central bank digital currency (CBDC) being developed by the European Central Bank: a euro issued and guaranteed by the ECB, usable online and offline like digital cash, designed to sit alongside, not replace, banknotes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As of August 2026, here is where things stand: in July 2026 the ECB selected 36 payment service providers (PSPs) from across the euro area, including seven or eight Italian players such as Unicredit, Monte dei Paschi, Banca Sella, Isybank, Numia, Nexi and Poste Italiane, to take part in the pilot project. The pilot will use a beta version of the currency, involve Eurosystem staff and selected merchants, start in the second half of 2027 and run for twelve months. The EU regulation providing the legal basis for the currency has cleared the European Parliament and is now in trilogue with the Commission and Council, with a deal expected by the end of 2026; the ECB has floated a first real issuance no earlier than 2029, still subject to final approval of the regulation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Will it replace cash? No: the ECB has repeatedly stated that the digital euro is meant to complement banknotes, not force them out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Crypto and stablecoins in everyday payments<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Stablecoins are cryptocurrencies whose value is pegged to a stable asset, typically the dollar or the euro, to avoid the volatility typical of bitcoin or ether. In Europe, the MiCA regulation has governed the issuance of these tokens since 2024, requiring reserve backing and issuer authorisation. In everyday Italian and European payments, real-world use remains marginal compared with cards and wallets, concentrated mostly in cross-border transactions and international e-commerce; the topic is nonetheless followed closely by the ECB and market players, since it intertwines stablecoins and the digital euro as possible alternatives or complements to one another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This section is informational, not financial advice: it does not provide investment guidance on any cryptocurrency or token.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Subdermal microchips: real or science fiction?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Among the more curious, and least widespread, applications of digital payments are NFC microchips implanted under the skin, usually between thumb and index finger. In Sweden, where cash has almost disappeared from shops, a few thousand people have trialled the implant to open doors, board a train or pay by simply holding a hand near a terminal, exactly as a contactless card would.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The phenomenon remains niche: the real constraints are not technical but medical, a subcutaneous implant still involves a minor invasive procedure, and about privacy, since a chip permanently attached to the body raises different questions than a card that can be cancelled or replaced. It is more a cultural marker of how far payment dematerialisation can go than a mass-market trend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Cashless Italy: the real numbers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Italy starts from a position of historic lag compared with Northern Europe, but the gap is narrowing quickly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><thead><tr><td><strong>Indicator<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>Value<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>Source \/ year<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/thead><tbody><tr><td>Total digital transaction value<\/td><td>\u20ac518 billion (+7% vs 2024)<\/td><td>Politecnico di Milano Innovative Payments Observatory, 2025<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Share of spending: digital vs cash<\/td><td>45% digital \/ 38% cash<\/td><td>Politecnico di Milano Innovative Payments Observatory, 2025<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Bank transfers and direct debits<\/td><td>17% of spending<\/td><td>Politecnico di Milano Innovative Payments Observatory, 2025<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Innovative payments (smartphone\/wearable)<\/td><td>\u20ac84.9 billion<\/td><td>Politecnico di Milano Innovative Payments Observatory, 2025<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Italians who paid via smartphone\/wearable<\/td><td>14 million (up from 10 million in 2024)<\/td><td>Politecnico di Milano Innovative Payments Observatory, 2025<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Italians owning at least one card<\/td><td>96% of the population<\/td><td>Politecnico di Milano Innovative Payments Observatory, 2025<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Per-capita card transactions<\/td><td>Among the lowest in Europe (fourth from bottom)<\/td><td>Politecnico di Milano Innovative Payments Observatory, 2024<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The three figures add up without overlapping: digital (45%), cash (38%) and transfers\/direct debits (17%) cover the entire basket of Italian consumer spending, for the first time giving a complete picture of how the country actually pays.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Buy Now Pay Later is growing too: BNPL reached \u20ac9.9 billion in Italy in 2025, up 45% year on year. The regulatory picture changes in 2026: the new EU Consumer Credit Directive (CCD2) brings BNPL under the same protections as other consumer loans, including creditworthiness checks that were not previously required for shorter instalment plans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Security: fraud, SCA and AI-powered scams<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The EU&#8217;s PSD2 rules introduced Strong Customer Authentication (SCA), requiring two-factor authentication for most online payments: something the customer knows (a PIN or password), something they possess (a smartphone) and, increasingly, something they are (a fingerprint or face).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The most critical threat of 2026, though, is different: AI-powered voice cloning. A few seconds of public audio, a social video, a voice note, are enough to generate a convincing synthetic voice, the same technology behind voice-synthesis engines such as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ITNEWS-DOMINIO.it\/fish-audio-clonazione-vocale\/\">Fish Audio<\/a>. According to an analysis by cybersecurity firm Surfshark, deepfake-related fraud has caused $2.19 billion in losses globally to date, of which $1.65 billion in 2025 alone. More than half of that total comes from investment scams built on deepfakes of public figures and institutional officials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Italy&#8217;s best-known case dates to February 2025 and involved Defence Minister Guido Crosetto: his voice, cloned with AI software, was used to call entrepreneurs and executives, reportedly including Giorgio Armani and Patrizio Bertelli, requesting transfers to a Hong Kong-based account under the pretext of paying a ransom for kidnapped Italian journalists. At least one victim actually paid, transferring around one million euros in two instalments. To be clear about what remains uncertain: it was never fully established whether the voice on the call was a repurposed recording or a real-time voice filter, the technical distinction stays open, though it made no difference to the victims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The target is not only personal wealth: around the same period, a similar attempt, later foiled, targeted Ferrari CEO Benedetto Vigna, who was contacted with messages and a call imitating an executive&#8217;s voice, showing that the risk extends to internal payment-authorisation procedures, not just private individuals. The same underlying question, who owns a voice and who can legally clone it, is central to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ITNEWS-DOMINIO.it\/licensing-voci-ai-musica\/\">AI voice licensing in the music industry<\/a>. The most effective defence remains verification on a second channel: no bank, and no executive, ever requests an urgent transfer based on a single voice message or a single phone call.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">FAQ<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Will the digital euro replace cash?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>No. The ECB presents it as complementary to banknotes, not a replacement: cash will continue to be accepted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>When will the digital euro become mandatory?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There is no mandatory date yet: the pilot starts in the second half of 2027, any real issuance is not expected before 2029, and it remains subject to approval of the EU regulation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Can you already pay with your palm in Italy?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Not widely: biometric payment trials (Amazon One and similar systems) are currently concentrated in other markets; in Italy only isolated pilot cases exist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Are stablecoins legal in Europe?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yes, if issued in compliance with the MiCA regulation, which requires reserve backing and issuer authorisation. This is not investment or usage advice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>How can I protect myself from cloned-voice scams?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Always verify on a second channel, a direct call, a message on another service, any urgent request for money, even if the voice sounds like someone you know.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Payments in 2035<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>If today&#8217;s three forces, dematerialisation, invisibility, programmability, keep maturing, payment in the next decade may stop being a recognisable gesture at all: an AI agent comparing prices and paying on the user&#8217;s behalf, a digital euro coexisting with cards and regulated stablecoins, a checkout that disappears entirely inside the shopping experience. The open challenge for regulators and consumers will be keeping transparency and control over an infrastructure that is, by design, becoming less and less visible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Sources<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Politecnico di Milano Innovative Payments Observatory (2025), Italian digital payments data<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>European Central Bank, digital euro project status and PSP pilot selection<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Surfshark, Global Deepfake Fraud Report (2026), global deepfake fraud losses<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Euronews, Cyber Security 360, Federprivacy (February 2025), Crosetto case reporting<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>ICT Security Magazine, Ferrari deepfake attempted-fraud case<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>MiCA Regulation (EU), regulatory framework for stablecoins<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>EU Consumer Credit Directive (CCD2), new BNPL rules<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Beyond cash: the age of invisible payments | Last updated: August 2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":8623,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[153,79,84],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-8625","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-int-focus","8":"category-sections","9":"category-technologies"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Digital Payments Explained: Trends, Tech &amp; 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