Young people are already shaping the future of payments, whether the industry realises it or not.
Across Africa and around the world, younger consumers are embracing digital wallets, contactless payments, peer-to-peer payment apps and other digital payment solutions as part of everyday life. They are not simply adopting new technology. They are setting new expectations for how payments should work.
This shift is happening at scale. PYMNTS Intelligence reports that 85% of Gen Z consumers prefer digital payments over cash, while 91% consider themselves digital-first users. Ernst & Young’s 2024 Gen Z Payments Survey found that Gen Z consumers are up to three times more likely than older generations to use alternative payment methods such as digital wallets, peer-to-peer payment apps and Buy Now, Pay Later services.
The conversation has therefore moved beyond whether young people will adopt digital payments. The real opportunity lies in involving them more directly in shaping what comes next.
For years, the payments industry has focused on critical goals such as security, acceptance and efficiency. These priorities remain essential. However, the most successful payment solutions are often the ones that solve everyday challenges in simple and intuitive ways.
Young people often manage money differently from previous generations. Many earn income through freelancing, e-commerce, content creation, ride-hailing, online gaming and other forms of gig work. Income can arrive from multiple sources and at irregular intervals, creating a different set of financial needs and expectations.
At the same time, they move seamlessly between physical and digital commerce. They expect the same flexibility from the payment experiences they use.
The Alliance for Financial Inclusion notes that low adoption of financial products often stems from designs that fail to account for the realities of young people’s lives. In many cases, what appears to be an adoption challenge is actually a design challenge.
The best payment innovations solve genuine problems.
A student may want a simpler way to split expenses with friends. A freelancer may need budgeting tools that can accommodate fluctuating monthly income. A growing online business may need a faster and easier way to accept and manage payments across multiple channels.
These everyday use cases provide valuable insight into how digital payment experiences can evolve.
Whether it is QR payments, digital wallets, contactless payments or peer-to-peer platforms, the products that succeed are usually those that remove friction and make managing money easier. As consumer behaviour continues to evolve, payment providers must continue building solutions that respond to these changing expectations.
One of the most effective ways to build better payment solutions is to involve young people earlier in the development process.
Co-creation helps organisations move beyond assumptions and gain a clearer understanding of what users actually need. A good example comes from Luxembourg’s Financial Wellbeing FinTech Hackathon, where students worked alongside financial institutions and technology companies to develop solutions to challenges they face as young adults. Their ideas focused on financial wellbeing, budgeting and creating simpler digital experiences.
This approach creates a more collaborative relationship between providers and users. Instead of presenting a completed product and asking for feedback, organisations can engage young people from the outset through innovation labs, university partnerships, youth advisory groups and product testing programmes.
New technologies are creating exciting opportunities for the payments industry.
Artificial intelligence is helping improve fraud detection, customer support and personalised financial experiences. Embedded finance is making payments easier to access within the platforms people already use. Wearable payments and biometric authentication are simplifying everyday transactions.
But technology alone is not enough.
A feature only creates value when it solves a real problem for the people using it. The most advanced technology can still miss the mark if it feels confusing, unnecessary or disconnected from users’ daily realities. Human insight remains essential in ensuring innovation serves real needs rather than simply introducing new features.
Africa is home to one of the youngest populations in the world, creating a significant opportunity to shape the future of digital commerce. More than 70% of sub-Saharan Africa’s population is under the age of 30, while digital payment adoption continues to grow across developing economies.
As more young people participate in the digital economy, launch businesses, enter the workforce and engage with digital financial services, their influence on the future of commerce will continue to expand.
For payment providers, banks, fintechs and regulators, this presents an important opportunity. Young people should not only be viewed as customers adopting new technologies. They should be recognised as partners in innovation.
By listening to their experiences, understanding how they earn and spend, and involving them in the design process, the industry can build payment experiences that are more inclusive, relevant and ready for the future.
In a rapidly evolving payments landscape, the organisations that succeed will be those that build with the next generation, not just for them.
