What: A recent report has identified new payment consumer behavior trends for the next five to seven years.

Why it is important: Businesses need to adapt to the changing needs of consumers as they become more conscious of their consumerism, value new currencies and expect heightened experiences.

The report by Mastercard Signals focuses on three major trends: reimagining money, creating intelligent experiences, and sustainable futures.

Consumers are valuing new currencies and shifting towards the usage of non-traditional assets such as cryptocurrency, digital goods, and loyalty points. Because there are issues when these exchanges are made between the physical and digital world, programmable payments and new types of tokens such as stocks and digital assets could be solutions for the future.

The report also cites connected finance as a way to create more personalized and tailored consumer experiences. Customers are using third-party financial institutions for new banking and payment solutions such as Klarna (buy now, pay later). In the future, borderless payment rails will also create intelligent experiences as they look to solve the cash flow and commerce issue of exchanging goods, services and data across geographic borders.

Societal and environmental issues will impact companies as conscious consumerism becomes increasingly popular. The implementation of environmental, social, and governance strategies will be key as consumers expect brands to change alongside them and vote with their wallets.

The future of payment: upcoming trends