What happened and what's coming up (2024 review)

Reflecting on 2024 and looking ahead to 2025

The first part of this post is some of my observations on payment trends in 2024. The second part features views on where payments may be heading in 2025, with guest comments from Sam Boboev, Michele Mattei and Nicolas Pinto. I really appreciate you reading Payments Culture in 2024! Happy New Year, and I hope to see you here again in 2025!

Part #1 - Looking back on 2024

End-of-year review posts often mix a look back at the year that’s gone, with a look ahead to next year’s trends. As mentioned in my 2023 review:

These [review and prediction] posts can be valuable, but such annual predictions often tend to reflect the current stage of a hype cycle. What’s hot at that moment. And what many firms have placed their bets on for the coming year.

The key point made in that post was that when it comes to payments and fintech:

In one year, not too much changes, but over a 5-10 year period, a lot can change. Often, the most impactful changes develop gradually over many years rather than burst onto t…