Future of Payments: Challenges, Perspectives and Opportunities

The payments industry is at a pivotal moment. As digital transformation accelerates, a new era driven by deep technologies - including artificial intelligence, blockchain, and agentic AI - is beginning to take shape. During a CDL-Paris gathering on Artificial Intelligence, David Restrepo Amariles, Associate Professor of AI and legal analytics and Worldline Chair on the Future of Money at HEC Paris, shares his reflection and perspectives on the current shift in the financial industries.

A Turning Point in Payments: From Money to Data Flows

At the heart of the payment industry’ evolution is a fundamental realization: payments are no longer just about money. As HEC Paris Professor David Restrepo Amariles puts it, "Payment is a lot about data. When you pay with your credit card, what circulates within the few seconds after your payment is not money, it's data."

This shift from monetary transaction to data exchange opens entirely new possibilities for innovation across infrastructure, business models, and customer experience. "We have this amazing circulation of data, the infrastructure that supports the data, and there is a lot of technology that can be built on that data," says David Restrepo Amariles, citing artificial intelligence and blockchain as key enablers.

Unlocking New Frontiers with AI & Blockchain

Beyond improving existing processes, these technologies are redefining the architecture of the payments ecosystem. AI now plays a vital role in fraud detection, credit scoring, automated decision-making, and personalized services. Meanwhile, blockchain introduces a new model of trust and transparency through decentralized, tamper-proof transaction records, eliminating the need for traditional intermediaries.

The promise of blockchain in payments has been discussed for over a decade, but we are now seeing a clear inflection point: "We really see some serious actors starting to adopt some blockchain technologies, starting to do partnerships with established industry actors," notes David. This reflects a growing maturity in the industry, moving toward mainstream adoption.

At the frontier, HEC Paris Research is closely tracking agentic AI, intelligent agents capable of making and executing tasks autonomously. "The idea is that we will have AI agents that will perform the payments on our behalf," David explains. It means these systems could soon act independently, based on user preferences, contextual signals, or financial goals.

Together, these technologies are redefining what is possible in the payment landscape, and are raising a critical question: How do we create value with these new technologies, once part of the existing value is destroyed?

But before diving into how they create value and disrupt it, there's a fundamental factor shaping their trajectory: regulation.

Regulation as a Catalyst? The MiCA Framework and Strategic Implications

As technological innovation accelerates, so does regulatory oversight. New technologies inevitably challenge existing legal frameworks, and the financial sector (particularly the payments industry) is under intense scrutiny. As David Restrepo Amariles observes, “The question is, what’s coming in is regulation framing the adoption of this technology.”

In Europe, the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation is setting new standards for the responsible adoption of crypto and blockchain technologies. These frameworks aim to protect consumers, prevent financial crime, and foster innovation - but they also challenge stakeholders.

• For startups, regulations like MiCA legitimize their space and open the door to institutional investment and broader consumer trust, but demands regulatory literacy and compliance by design: from product architecture to capital strategies. Regulatory agility becomes a competitive advantage.
   
• For incumbent institutions, regulation presents a strategic fork: treat compliance as a cost, or embrace it as an innovation accelerator. Compliant use of crypto-assets, smart contracts, and tokenized finance can unlock new efficiencies… but it demands a shift in mindset around data governance, interoperability, and ethical AI.
   
• For policymakers, the challenge is to ensure that rules are not only protective but also enabling. A forward-thinking regulatory approach should be technology-neutral, principle-based, and iterative, co-developed with academia, industry, and stakeholders.

Understanding and navigating regulation will be critical to design the next generation of payment systems. That is where the Creative Destruction Lab (CDL) kicks in!

The Role of the Creative Destruction Lab: Bridging Innovation and Impact

The HEC Paris Innovation & Entrepreneurship Institute is proud to host the CDL-Paris program within its Deep Tech Center, a non-profit initiative that accelerates innovation and scales deep tech ventures. The program offers a unique platform for startups at the intersection of science and innovation in fields like AI, helping them grow and align with real-world market needs.

But Creative Destruction Lab’s impact goes far beyond venture growth: it also plays a key role in bridging the gap between disruptive innovation and established institutions. Its collaborative model brings together startup founders, scientists, corporate leaders, seasoned mentors, and academics, creating the conditions for meaningful dialogue and integration. 
 

“What we see is that there is still a gap between the established actors and those doing the disruption. (...) I guess the main challenge is to integrate these emerging businesses and technologies with the business models of these established organizations.”

- David Restrepo Amariles, professor and expert in Law, Taxation, and AI at HEC Paris

This structure is essential in sectors like payments, where innovation doesn’t exist in isolation, but must be integrated into existing infrastructures, comply with evolving regulation, and align with market and societal needs.

CDL directly addresses this challenge, helping startups understand how to navigate real-world constraints, and enabling established firms to adopt and scale innovation responsibly. In doing so, CDL becomes a platform where deep tech meets deployment, and where innovative ideas become market-ready solutions.

Learn more about CDL-Paris