FLORIDA, United States — As artificial intelligence (AI) continues to revolutionalise global payment systems, industry experts are calling for the accelerated use of technology to transform traditional solutions.

President of Mastercard’s Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) region Andrea Scerch, in addressing the 12th edition of the organisation’s LAC Innovation Forum 2023 held in Miami, Florida, said that with AI at the forefront of future development the need to have cutting-edge payment solutions becomes increasingly more important.

“More alacrity is needed to drive the digital evolution. The increased power of data is unlocking opportunities for more personalised experiences, and with this at the same time being compounded by the speedy progress of AI more alacrity is needed in accelerating the digital-first approach,” he said in his opening remarks on Tuesday.

Mastercard as a global payment outfit — as part of its thrust for greater growth and expansion in the countries it serves — has already singled out digital wallets, real time payment (RTP) infrastructure, and economic social and governance (ESG) sustainability among the three main areas of focus for the future.

“We want to create solutions that offer our consumers more choice, enabling them to make payments in any way they see fit. The use of digital wallets as a container for these options to pay is a welcomed bonus,” a Mastercard executive said.

Addressing attendees gathered at the annual conference, renowned author and tech-banking analyst Brett King said that with the rapid expansion of AI the future of digital wallets and other payment systems are likely to shift even further as more people adapt to new innovations.

“While the industry has already started to see some changes, it will require much, with a larger cross section of the ways in which traditional payments are done being shifted.

“When we look at payments capability around the world we see a rapidly growing infrastructure — and in very diverse places. Today mobile wallets are growing in importance in terms of their use. Based on some statistics we’re already seeing where about 60 per cent of humans will use their wallets as their primary payment vehicle within the next couple of years,” he explained while referencing other data which point to some of the fastest-growing financial institutions around the world as those largely embracing the technology to become digital.

King, in further touting the power of AI to offer a more contextualised management of one’s money, said the technology, if used properly, could also help wallet users to better integrate their spending behaviour with personal lifestyle choices, allowing for increased payment interactions.

“Having that context of understanding how much money ones has, how much they are earning, and making recommendations on basic spending decisions can be very powerful for the individual,” he stated while citing the need for trust as being very critical to the process.

“By 2050 the world’s largest economies will be powered by AI; this is the trajectory for the future of payments and there is no denying. Capitalism wants to make it so because it’s going to bring incredible wealth for market corporations. We are therefore going to have a whole explosion with the potential of payments as we look to bank in the smart world — and that is also going to bring new and exciting opportunities which requires us to think very differently about the use of AI and how we integrate it in the banking architecture,” King said.