6 Australian payment trends for 2025

2025 is shaping up to be a big year for businesses in Australia, with tech investment, sustainability, and regional expansion driving new opportunities. Take a look at some of what’s on the horizon for the year ahead:

• AI and digital regulations are tightening. The Australian government is rolling out new rules on ethical AI, cybersecurity, and data responsibility. With AI playing a bigger role in fighting payment fraud, businesses need to stay ahead of compliance.

• Sustainability isn’t just a checkbox, it’s a business driver. Companies are increasingly expected to embed sustainability into their operations to meet national net-zero targets and ESG regulations. Plus, consumers are voting with their wallets, favouring brands with strong environmental and social commitments.

• Migration is reshaping consumer demand. A constant influx of overseas residents is creating an ever-increasing diverse customer base, driving demand for businesses to offer a wider range of payment methods, from digital wallets to cross-border transactions.

These developments and initiatives provide an important backdrop for Australian businesses. The question is: Where should you focus your efforts now for the biggest impact over the next five years? 

Hayley Fisher, Country Manager Australia and New Zealand, shares six key Australian payment trends for 2025 and explores how businesses like R.M.Williams, IKEA, and H&M are adapting.

“From my conversations with leading Australian businesses, key consumer trends found in our latest research, and new regulatory shifts, these are the six payment trends in Australia set to shape 2025:

1. Personalised payments

2. Countless checkout choices

3. Embedded payments for exponential potential

4. The rise of purpose-lead shopping

5. Fighting fraud with AI

6. Mastering digital transformation in the age of AI

Let’s take a deeper dive.

An important Australian payment trend, which will be relevant way beyond 2025, is personalisation. Customers today expect experiences that feel tailored to them and it’s a powerful way of driving loyalty. 

For example, according to our 2024 retail study, 62% of shoppers in Australia want personalised services from their favourite brands. And 53% are willing to share their data to enable retailers to do so. 

And the industry is responding. Mecca, for example, is using AI-driven recommendations based on browsing behaviour and purchase history to improve personalisation. In doing so, they’re not just driving more sales, they’re responding to the consumer call for more tailored experiences.

Meanwhile, Sephora is using AI to address a known blindspot in the beauty industry: Colour-matching for darker skin tones. Its Colour iQ tool uses a specialised camera to capture skin shade which customers can use to find the right make-up for them. This goes beyond great customer service. Sephora is using AI to celebrate belonging and inclusivity. 

When it comes to personalisation, the more data you can gather to train your AI and machine learning algorithms, the better. And payments can be a major untapped resource. If all your sales channels feed into one system, you’ll capture vast amounts of data about your customers to inform your personalisation tools. Take our optimisation engine, Adyen Uplift. It harnesses the power of AI, informed by trillions of dollars worth of global data, to drive conversion, automate fraud control, and cut operational overhead.

The payments industry is innovating at a rapid pace. After decades of card domination, we’re now seeing the rise of digital wallets, buy now, pay later (BNPL), and open banking. In-person payments are evolving rapidly too. From static countertop terminals, we now have new mobile payment technology such as Tap to Pay and methods such as Pay by Palm.

Tap to Pay is a great way to provide a personalised checkout experience from anywhere on the shop floor, eliminating the need for shoppers to wait in line. R.M.Williams, for example, is rolling out Tap to Pay solutions across physical stores to make its checkout experiences easier for both in-store teams and customers.

Australia is especially fast to embrace these new payment innovations. Businesses recognise that payments are fundamental to keeping the wheels of commerce turning. The easier they are on the front end and the smoother they run on the back end, the better it is for businesses and customers alike.

Top platforms are now generating more than 50% of their revenues from embedded payments, according to a recent report we created in collaboration with Boston Consulting Group. And Australian platforms are no exception. By embedding payments into their ecosystems, they are providing more streamlined payment experiences, optimised for the businesses they serve. For example, Roller has integrated payments so users can store multiple payment methods, including BNPL.  

The benefits of embedded payments and other financial services are two-fold: Firstly they help drive engagement, increase stickiness, and unlock additional monetisation opportunities for your platform. Secondly, they empower your platform to further support the growth of SMBs, which are the backbone of local economies.

Research shows that Australian consumers increasingly prioritise brands that demonstrate environmental responsibility. A 2024 survey by Monash Business School's Australian Consumer and Retail Studies (ACRS) found that 46% of Australian shoppers consider sustainability to be a key factor in their purchasing decisions. 

Brands are also recognising the importance of such initiatives. IKEA Australia plans to phase out plastic by 2028. Country Road provides a Climate Fund to support grassroots environmental projects. And H&M Australia has introduced a garment collection service to recycle unwanted clothing.

But this goes further than an environmental consciousness. Australian consumers are increasingly socially aware and many (especially Gen Z) seek meaning from their purchases. 35% want retailers to be more transparent with their sustainability or social responsibility efforts. And they are willing to pay for it – 44% of Gen Z consumers would spend more if they knew where and how the product was sourced.

Many brands are also making it easier for their customers to make a difference by facilitating donations at checkout. This is very powerful. Customers have already entered their payment details and can donate with a single click. At scale, the results can be incredible. For example, our checkout donation feature, Giving, generated nearly €25m in donations to date.

Unfortunately, with the ongoing growth of ecommerce comes a rise in card-not-present fraud, which is up 29% year-on-year. Despite their doubtless benefits, the emergence of new payment methods and channels naturally creates new vulnerabilities as fraudsters exploit untested security measures. This makes AI-powered fraud detection essential for staying ahead of evolving threats. In Australia, there are a few fraud techniques that are particularly active.

One is card testing fraud, where a fraudster uses tools to repeatedly try different combinations of payment information – also known as a card enumeration. AI can detect these high-volume, low-value transactions and block fraudulent attempts in real time.

Another is friendly fraud, where the fraudster initiates a chargeback despite having received the purchased goods. Analysis using AI can help businesses differentiate between real disputes and fraudulent claims.

Then there’s account takeover fraud, where fraudsters gain access to a shopper’s account and alter their details. AI-driven behavioural analytics can detect unusual login patterns, automatically flagging suspicious activity. You can find more examples of fraud types that impact Australian businesses here.

To combat these attacks, Australian businesses are implementing AI-driven fraud solutions that use machine learning to identify suspicious behaviour, reducing false positives while stopping fraud before it happens. This is especially effective if paired with biometric authentication, behavioural analytics, and network intelligence to identify fraud in real time. 

If you ask Australian business leaders what keeps them up at night, many will say  “digital transformation and extracting organisational value from it.” 

But, despite the challenges, the emergence of technology like AI presents huge opportunities for businesses to improve their customer experience and combat fraud. Another important use case is how AI can help streamline business operations. Retailers like Coles and Woolworths are using AI to power their logistics, optimise inventory and reduce waste. This is a great example of how Australian businesses can leverage AI to not only improve efficiencies but also meet the government’s increasingly high expectations around sustainability and ESG.

That being said, handling AI requires knowledge, time, and resources. I’d always recommend working with technology partners committed to a sustainable and ethical approach to AI. In that way, you can be sure to maximise its benefits while staying on the right side of regulators and consumer sentiment.

2025 is shaping up to be a big year for Australian businesses. I'm excited to see how ongoing AI investment, the rise of the ESG agenda, and increasing regional growth will shape the future. I believe they will help lay the foundation for sustainable success across the region.

But while trends shift, some things never change. Standout customer experiences and strong fraud protection remain essential, and keeping up isn’t easy. But you don’t have to do it alone. The right technology partners can keep you agile, ensuring you can adapt while you can focus on growing your business.”

Curious to explore how we can help you stay on top of Australian payment trends? Talk to a payment expert >