AI and payments: how the industry is approaching artificial intelligence

• 45% of payment companies’ latest earnings calls reviewed by FXC Intelligence mentioned artificial intelligence at least once. A full analysis of how payment companies are thinking about and using AI can be found here. 
• A variety of payment companies from highly tech-focused backgrounds to more established players are interested in AI and its use cases: some discussed the development of AI projects over many years whilst others talked through novel initiatives.

AI is firmly in the mind of the payments industry. In a review of 20 publicly traded payment companies’ Q1 23 earnings calls by FXC Intelligence, 45% mentioned projections involving artificial intelligence. Of those that didn’t, all but one had discussed projects or initiatives using the technology previously, either in interviews, previous announcements or other releases.  

It’s not just highly tech-focused companies that are interested in AI, there is plenty of interest from established incumbents. Fintechs including Block, Mastercard, Paypal and Visa discussed AI in their interviews, as well as payment processors such as FIS, Fiserv and B2B players such as Flywire. 

However, not all AI projects are using the same generation of the technology, or for the same purpose. FXC Intelligence published a report looking at how various payment companies are using AI. 

The report found that all of the projections involving AI fell into three categories of application: fraud protection and/or risk management; customer service and/or customer experience; and productivity and/or cost improvements.

Lucy Ingham, Head of Content and Editor in Chief said:

“What companies referred to as AI in the initiatives they discussed varied significantly and in many cases it was unclear exactly what type of AI they were applying. Artificial intelligence has been in-use in some form by businesses for over a decade, so how and what it is being used for varies considerably. Only three companies specified that they were developing projects using generative AI – the technology currently making AI headlines – and some companies only discussed AI projects that were fully implemented some time ago.

“The keenness to highlight AI projects old and new reflects the buzz around AI at the moment. Investors are interested to see what companies are doing in this space, which may have led some leaders to discuss AI projects that have been in place for many years, if they are not yet working on novel initiatives.” 

Given the slew of bad news and fear mongering surrounding AI in recent weeks, it is interesting to note that the tone of discussion around AI avoided addressing such fears.

Just one company, Mastercard, addressed the concerns of trustworthiness held by many around AI and stressed the importance of the company being principled about how it tackled the technology.