2025 AFP Digital Payments Survey: Key Highlights

Payments made by checks

B2B check usage is down 7% in North America and Canada.1

26% in 2025

33% in 2022                     

Cross-border payments

The cross-border payments increase suggests a broader participation in international transactions.2

87% in 2025

78% in 2022

Barriers to digital payments

Difficulty in convincing customers to pay digitally is the most-often cited major barrier.3

43% in 2025

30% in 2022

Most frequently cited barriers include customer and supplier acceptance, scarcity of IT resources and the cost of making changes to internal transactions.3

Positive impact of faster payments

In 2025, more than 30% of financial professionals report faster payments are having a positive impact on their organizations.4

28% for B2B

12% for B2C                                                       

B2B: Those using faster payments want to stay informed about new developments and adopt faster payment where beneficial5

For B2C: More are adopting a wait-and-see approach, while fewer are looking to stay current and adopt the system where beneficial5

The most widely used technology

In 2025, data analytics stands out as the most widely implemented technology.6

  • 13% extensive use                                           
  • 41% some use

 

The top three benefits7:

81% cite reduced manual processes

74% cite reduced fraud and errors

63% cite enhanced AP processes automation

ISO 20022 standards8

Organizations that have migrated report they are valuable or very valuable to their businesses.

40% In 2025

44% In 2022

Those respondents whose organization currently use the standard have yet to leverage the data and technology offered and, therefore, may not have realized the value of ISO 20022.

Citations: 2025 AFP® Digital Payments Survey Report: 1page 8, 2page 22, 3page 32, 4page 41, 5page 42, 6page 49, 7page 51, 8page 56

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