The global payments industry continues to build on a decade of sustained digital payments momentum, as instant payments become increasingly embedded in commercial ecosystems. While 60% of banks prioritized business-to-business (B2B) payment innovation during the past three years, only 32% of corporate clients report satisfaction with their primary banking partner. The issue is no longer simply whether money moves fast enough; now corporations are increasingly seeking greater visibility, predictability, liquidity control, embedded compliance, and reconciliation across the full B2B payments lifecycle.

For the first time, the industry is responding by redesigning the instrument itself, not just improving how money moves. This report defines that shift as “accelerated intelligent money” – an increasingly rapid move toward payments instruments including stablecoins, tokenized deposits, and wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC) that combine value transfer, settlement, and business rules within a single layer. 

The new World Payments Report draws on insights from two primary sources – the 2026 Global Corporate Survey and the 2026 Global Banking Executive Surveys and Interviews. Both of these primary research efforts captured insights from nine markets:  Australia, UAE, France, Germany, Hong Kong, the Netherlands, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and the United States. 

• Our comprehensive Global Corporate Survey, also known as the Voice of the Payment Industry Survey, questioned 1,110 large corporates (revenues greater than USD 1 billion); these corporations were equally distributed across three sectors: insurance, manufacturers, and logistics/transportation.
• The report also includes insights from the Global Banking Executives Survey and Interviews, comprising responses from 300 banking executives across four global regions: the Americas, Europe, EMEA, and the Asia-Pacific. 

The report urges industry players to follow the example of a small group of leading competitors: our research found that only 21% of banks today are actively scaling at least one accelerated intelligent money instrument. These market leaders are making strategic choices about how to compete in the future of payments, and each marketplace position demands differing levels of capability, investment, and commitment: 

1. “Reactive” participants preserve client access by distributing third-party capabilities with minimal investment of their own. 
2. “Offensive” participants invest selectively in priority corridors, client segments, or use cases – where they can most efficiently differentiate themselves. 
3. “Transformative” participants seek to shape the ecosystem itself by investing in shared infrastructure, technical standards, and governance participation. 

Every bank faces this same strategic choice, and what matters is making that choice now – inertia won’t be a successful strategy. The banks that move first – defining where they will play, how they will differentiate, and which capabilities they must build now – will set the terms of future competition in the payments processing industry.