Emerging Payout Trends to Watch This Year and Beyond

The payments industry moves at breakneck speed. In the last few years, innovations in payment technologies have changed how payouts can be made, where they can be made and how fast these transactions can be completed. 

Whether you’re a gig economy business like Uber or Airbnb or a freelance platform like Fiverr or Upwork, staying on top of the most efficient ways to make payouts is key to business success.

We’ve broken down the top payout trends for the year ahead and beyond, why they matter, and how a payments network like Thunes can keep you at the forefront of payout technology. 

Which payment trends will most impact your markets and fit your needs? Learn about Thunes’ payments solutions.

Table of contents 

Understanding payout technology and its importance

Payout technology is at the foundation of every transaction made. It facilitates marketplace and gig economy platform payments for vendors and workers, allowing money to be sent to multiple recipients worldwide.

And, being technology, it never stands still. 

Platforms need to be agile with payment technology to unlock its many advantages: 

• Removing barriers to sales: Adopting technology enables companies of all kinds to work with a wider range of collaborators (freelancers, gig economy workers, creators, etc), as they can onboard collaborators with various payment cultures and, therefore, serve the biggest number of customers. 
• Improving customer experience: The ability to make payments instantly, reliably, and with full transparency makes the payment process stress-free. It’s a win-win for everyone involved. Payment solutions that remove friction improve the entire payment experience.   
• Supporting local and global payments: Payout technologies have made the financial market a global one. Implementing the latest innovations opens a business or platform up to a broader audience and more markets.

The importance of implementing modern payout technology boils down to this: It’s about offering safe, secure and fast payments using the payee’s preferred payment method. 

Key drivers behind payout technology innovation

We are seeing several factors that are pushing the payments industry to innovate. 

Traditional payment methods often involve hidden fees, lengthy settlement times, restrictions on market availability and security concerns. 

High fees and hidden costs

Specific payment methods, like card payments, involve third parties and intermediaries. Each of these can add fees and costs to every single transaction. Suppose you’re a platform that makes payments that travel across borders. In that case, unpredictable FX rates and varying currency conversion rates can add to costs. 

Settlement times are too slow 

Traditional payment processing can take 3-7 days to clear, provided the transaction went smoothly. Similar to the hidden costs, several parties are often involved, all of which have to complete checks and move the payment to the next stage. This can cause bottlenecks and delays.

Expanding markets / demographic

Not all payment methods are available in all markets. Businesses have to be able to meet their workers where they are and offer convenient payment options. This also applies to demographics. If a platform focuses on younger generations, they are more likely to pay with digital wallets or through online payment platforms rather than use credit or debit cards. 

The need for improved security 

As payments continue to go digital, security and fraud are huge concerns. Businesses and platforms want guarantees that payouts will be made securely, with transparency and safeguards. With financial fraud more prevalent than ever, embracing technology is key in the fight against fraud. 

The key trends in payout technology

The year ahead is full of trends and innovations. As a gig economy or freelance platform, it’s important to understand what’s coming and how it will alter the payment landscape. 

We’ve compiled a list of 9 trends that will dominate payments in 2025 and beyond.

1. AI-powered payment systems

Artificial intelligence has dominated the tech world for the past few years. The potential for new innovative solutions has now entered the financial industry. 

By leveraging AI’s predictive ability, payment providers, financial institutions and banks can analyse data and metrics – for example, a customer’s spending history – and use the insights to offer tailored products or services. The more personalised the offering, the more it appeals to the customer. 

Further AI developments will allow platforms to make the payment process hyper-personalised. This could take the form of

• Calculating the best method of payment
• Highlighting potential rewards
• Offering specific rewards credit cards to maximise cash back on the purchase. 

2. Improved fraud prevention with machine learning

Millions of transactions happen every minute, and detecting genuine cases of fraud can be like searching for the needle in a haystack. 

Fraud is rising; global card fraud was predicted to total $35.8 billion in 2024, double that of 2014. Hackers and criminals are using AI and machine learning to increase the complexity of their efforts. The financial industry is fighting back, using the same tools to help defend itself and its users. 

Alongside AI, advanced machine learning is improving the effectiveness of fraud detection systems. With its capability to analyse vast quantities of data and spot patterns or anomalies quickly, payment systems are getting better at anticipating and mitigating the risks of fraud attempts. It’s also helping improve risk scoring and the speed at which card networks can cancel stolen cards or freeze accounts. 

3. Biometrics and digital identity on demand

Pin codes, passwords and proof of identity documents have long hindered payments. In the last few years, technology has continued alleviating these bottlenecks; fingerprints, facial recognition, and voice authentication are all biometric authentication methods becoming part of the day-to-day payment process. 

Biometrics offer customers speed, convenience and safety. Though the technology is still relatively new, it allows for a payment process void of pins and passwords.

With AI-enhanced fraud detection, facial recognition and fingerprint scanning, real-time transaction monitoring and improved payment encryption, transactions could soon be completed with biometrics alone. 

4. Tokenization 

Tokenization has enjoyed a boom over the past few years with the rise of assets like NFTs and digital tokens on the blockchain. In the finance industry, the technology is gaining traction to enhance security. 

Tokenization secures transactions by replacing sensitive payment information with a unique string of characters that a hacker cannot use. Some payment providers are pushing to make it mandatory. Mastercard aims to achieve 100% e-commerce tokenization in Europe by 2030. 

As more businesses prioritise data security and customer trust, tokenization is set to propel the digital payment ecosystem into a new era of efficiency and reliability.

5. Cross-border real-time payments 

Cross-border payments are the lifeblood of any business that does international trade, works with global suppliers, or pays freelancers or contract workers who work in a different country. 

Driven by rising global trade and digital platforms, this payment technology is booming. Over 575 billion RTP transactions are expected by 2028, which would represent 27% of all electronic payments made globally. The value of these payments is projected to reach $250 trillion by 2027. 

Customers and businesses now expect instant payments, whether local or global, and they expect them to be reliable and transparent. Using a payments network like Thunes, organisations and platforms can access instant, secure and transparent cross-border payments. This allows them to serve customers across the globe and establish partnerships with overseas vendors, contractors and suppliers.

6. New payout possibilities with open banking 

Open banking is a financial system that allows consumers to share their financial data with third parties through APIs. 

It allows for bulk payments, where businesses and platforms can batch multiple transactions together and send them to various recipients in a single payment instruction. This has multiple benefits; 

• Processing a single, bulk payment is more time-efficient and reduces manual effort and the risk of error.
• Bulk processing is more cost-effective as businesses don’t pay fees on every individual transaction.
• The third parties that facilitate open banking mandate strong authentication and security measures
• Grouping transactions together makes bookkeeping easier and more streamlined.

Open banking will continue to grow in 2025. Over 14.5 million transactions were made in January 2024 alone – an increase of 69% from last year – and adoption is predicted to accelerate in many markets across Latin America, Asia and Africa in the coming months. 

7. Collaborative regulatory frameworks

Every country has its own regulatory rules and frameworks regarding payments. This could have caused logistical challenges in the past years, especially for gig economy platforms and businesses that trade or deal with suppliers and contracts in other countries.

Each country’s regulatory framework adds complexity and cost to every transaction. However, as technology continues to remove barriers and simplify payment processes, these frameworks will become more collaborative.

Through payment networks like Thunes, businesses and platforms can ensure they comply with regulations worldwide. Thunes holds compliance licences in: 

• The USA
• France
• EU
• The UK
• Singapore
• Hong Kong

Our payment infrastructure means compliance concerns are a thing of the past for businesses and platforms. 

8. The rise of digital wallets

Driven by smartphone adoption and central bank initiatives, digital wallets are becoming the preferred method for seamless payments, particularly in unbanked populations and emerging markets. 

There’s no way around it – businesses and platforms have to accommodate this payment method. Whether it’s Apple Pay, Google Pay, or hundreds of other providers, customers now expect digital wallets to be an accepted form of payment. Integrating with the Thunes network enables payments to over 7 billion wallets and digital banks.

The technology will continue to evolve. We’ll likely see them become more comprehensive platforms used for embedded payments, a way to confirm identity and accept payments through smartphone tapping. 

9. Localised payment experiences

Businesses, platforms and marketplaces must tailor their payment experience to local requirements. 

Localisation is more than the country where the payout is made – it’s also about age, culture, and nationality. Allowing customers, merchants, workers, and suppliers to receive money through their preferred methods builds trust and loyalty and drives financial inclusion.  

A payment network like Thunes opens the door to localised payments. Whether it is digital wallets, bank accounts or QR codes, Thunes allows you to offer the most convenient payment methods. 

How Thunes supports payout innovation

Staying informed about payment trends and innovations is challenging enough. Implementing them into a creator or gig economy platform is another matter. 

One way to stay ahead of payout trends is to integrate with a payment network like Thunes. With our superhighway for moving money, your platform can benefit from fast, efficient and reliable mass payouts to any account globally, including the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. 

Thunes Direct Global Network offers many benefits;

• Unparalleled global reach: With pay-to-bank, pay-to-wallet and pay-to-card functionality, reach 22B+ mobile wallets, bank accounts and cards with 98% QoS. 
• Faster go-to-market: With a single API connection, you can access the global market, reducing development cycles.
• Simplified operations: A single point of contact reduces the complexities involved in global payments
• Improved customer experience: Payments are fast, transparent and trackable, and 98% of payments settle instantly. 

Our work with PayQuicker highlights the benefits of embracing payment technology. By collaborating with Thunes, PayQuicker can now offer its customers access to over 120 digital wallets and APMs worldwide, including Gcash in the Philippines, Orange Money in Africa, and Alipay in China.

Staying ahead of payout trends with Thunes

The payment industry constantly evolves, and staying ahead of the latest innovations is key to business success. 

Whether you’re a gig economy platform or a marketplace, you must offer convenient payout options that are fast, frictionless, reliable, and secure. Traditional payment methods often don’t cut it, and customers expect modern solutions wherever and however they want to make a transaction.

Thunes is always at the forefront of technology trends and innovations. By integrating with our network, no market or demographic is out of reach. 

The best time to embrace technology is today. Elevate your payment solutions with Thunes, the Smart Superhighway that moves money around the world.