Visa is winning the AI race in payments, but the question is whether it will pay off

"With relatively nascent industry players like Stripe and Block performing well - and showing their AI potential reflected in their valuations - the Index leaders cannot afford to drop off the pace. Payment companies - which move money around between banks, businesses, and consumers - run on technology. Evident's new industry ranking reveals how the companies we interact with every day are using AI, from deciding whether a transaction goes through to detecting fraud."

"Whether ranked No. 1 or dead last, all of the companies have at least one thing in common: none have published their achieved or projected ROI across all their AI efforts. By comparison, 10 of the 50 banks that Evident tracks already share those figures. The absence of ROI disclosure - or any group targets for AI ROI - is increasingly conspicuous."

"To justify their expenses, the market will sooner or later demand clearer evidence of value. Together, the dozen companies documented almost 100 AI use cases over the past two years, but the transparency gap remains a significant concern for stakeholders evaluating the true impact of these substantial technology investments."

Evident released its first AI maturity index ranking 12 global payments companies, with Visa at the top, Mastercard second, and PayPal third. Fintech players Stripe and Block rank fifth and sixth, demonstrating rapid AI capability development. Payment companies leverage AI for transaction authorization and fraud detection. Despite their investments and documented nearly 100 AI use cases over two years, all ranked companies share a critical gap: none have published achieved or projected ROI from their AI initiatives. This contrasts with banking sector transparency, where 10 of 50 tracked banks already share ROI figures. Industry experts warn that markets will increasingly demand clearer evidence of AI value and return on investment.

Read at Business Insider