Tracker Series news and trends

AI Agents Are Becoming the New Power Brokers in Digital Commerce

February 12, 2026
Featured image for the PYMNTS Intelligence and Visa February 2026 Tracker, “The Prompt Economy™: Tokens, Trust, and Transactions.” Learn how agentic AI and tokenization are reshaping the Prompt Economy, enabling invisible checkouts and redefining how consumers shop and pay.
Slow Payments Drain Small Business Cash Faster Than Sales Can Refill It
Faster Payments // February 11, 2026

For many small businesses, cash flow is no longer a background concern. It is the defining constraint shaping daily operations and long-term viability. Delayed receivables are becoming more common and more damaging, even for firms with steady sales. As payment cycles stretch, slow-moving funds are...

Checks, Not Instant Payments, Pose the Biggest Fraud Risk
Faster Payments // January 28, 2026

Instant payments adoption continues to rise, but fraud concerns remain a powerful brake on momentum. As artificial intelligence drives more sophisticated attacks, businesses and financial institutions (FIs) are reassessing how risk factors into real-time money movement. While speed and liquidity are widely recognized benefits of...

Instant Payments Take Center Stage as Construction Confronts Its Cash Flow Crisis
Real-Time Payments // December 17, 2025

Construction timelines depend on precision, coordination and confidence, but slow payments continue to undermine all three. Across the industry, contractors report that late disbursements are far more damaging than weather or materials issues. These late payments create cascading delays that fracture schedules, inflate bids and...

Slow Claims Payouts Push Insurance Policyholders to Switch Carriers
Insurance // November 17, 2025

Insurance once sold peace of mind. Today, peace of mind arrives in milliseconds—or not at all. When policyholders file a claim, they are not benchmarking insurers against other carriers. They are benchmarking them against the rest of their digital lives, where money moves instantly and...

Interviews & Exclusives
Instant Payments Take Center Stage as Construction Confronts Its Cash Flow Crisis

December 17, 2025
Construction timelines depend on precision, coordination and confidence, but slow payments continue to undermine all three. Across the industry, contractors report that late disbursements are far more damaging than weather or materials issues. These late payments create cascading delays that fracture schedules, inflate bids and weaken trust between owners and crews. As financing pressures rise […]

Restaurants Serve Up Instant Payments to Keep Staff and Cash Flow Steady

September 30, 2025
Labor shortages, high turnover and shifting consumer habits are reshaping the restaurant industry, and payments are at the center of the transformation. What was once a perk—same-day pay, instant tips...

North America Levels Up Real-Time Payments With Bigger Limits

August 06, 2025
Real-time payments are becoming a fixture in financial ecosystems across North America, driven by updates in network capabilities, expanded transaction limits and innovative use cases. The latest edition of the...

Instant Payouts and PropTech Rewrite the Property Management Rulebook

July 21, 2025
Property managers are embracing real-time payment rails — and not just for speed. Get the Full Story Complete the form to unlock this article and enjoy unlimited free access to...