Public-Sector Payments Prepare for $175B Shift to Digital

Finance Into Its Next Actby Lisa McFarland Embedded finance used to feel like a novelty — an extra button you bolted onto checkout. Six months into 2025, it’s closer to table stakes. When every brand from coffee chains to construction suppliers can tuck payments, lending, or insurance into their own flow, the question isn’t whether money will move in the background, but how safely and predictably it moves once it’s there. That’s the lens my team and I bring to our mid-season review. Before we call the next play, I’m checking three gauges on the product console. They’re simple on the surface, but they underpin everything we — and our partners — will do in the back half of the year. 1. Risk Travels With the Money Instant rails are only useful if risk decisions keep pace. We’ve moved underwriting into the ledger entry itself, letting each credit, debit or payout clear with a built-in “should we trust this?” moment. That change matters to any brand embedding finance: you get a realtime experience without a next-day reconciliation hangover, and your customer service team isn’t left explaining mysterious holds. 2. One Token, Many Routes A core promise of embedded finance is hiding infrastructure sprawl from the end user. Our Pay API now treats cards, ACH, wallets, real-time payments— and yes, even checks — as interchangeable routes tied to a single token. Treasury teams see one liquidity picture, engineers see one integration and customers simply see funds arrive. The rails themselves become a detail, not a decision point. 3. Core In-House, Edge In Partnership Owning the heavy machinery of the stack keeps us nimble; selective alliances give us sharper signals without slowing that pace. Device intelligence from Sardine, issuing muscle from Marqeta, identity data from Socure — each slots into the foundation rather than dictating it. For partners plugging us into their own products, that balance translates to speed and depth: a reliable core that can still adopt the latest specialist capability. HOW THE PIECES FIT TOGETHER Move-with-the-money risk, multi-rail tokens and “build-core/borrow-edge” partnerships aren’t separate bullet points on a roadmap that teams will have to debate which to choose from; they reinforce one another. The ledger-level risk check feeds richer data back to our partners, which in turn improves route selection. A unified token makes it trivial to test a new payment rail or fraud model without rewriting code. And a tight core means we can add — or swap — specialist providers quickly when the market shifts. The loop keeps tightening, and every turn raises the bar for what “embedded” really means. WHERE WE’RE HEADED AFTER THE WHISTLE In the second half, expect liquidity to become programmable — routes will change on the fly based on cost, context and customer preference. AI models, finally looking at a full picture instead of fragmented snapshots, will fade false positives into the background. And M&A consolidation will reward platforms that pair end-to-end governance with a modular interface. Our job is to make that future feel ordinary: money that moves, settles and reconciles so smoothly that product teams can focus on delight, not downtime. If we do it right, embedded finance stops being a buzzword and starts feeling like reliable infrastructure — power and plumbing for the digital economy. Halftime is over. See you in Q3.

The trucking and transportation industry depends on timing. When parts, fuel or payments don’t arrive on time, everything downstream suffers. In recent years, instant payments have helped address part of this challenge, enabling fast and secure vendor disbursements. However, while fuel providers now receive urgent payouts, drivers often don’t — and that imbalance is becoming harder to ignore. PYMNTS Intelligence finds that 97% of logistics companies say they must complete fuel payments in a timely manner, yet less than half apply the same urgency to driver pay. This gap reflects a lingering mindset that drivers will wait. In actuality, 93% of truckers say they would opt for instant disbursements if offered, and many say it’s a key factor in choosing where to work. Instant payments are already on the rise in the vendor landscape. Nearly 48% of transportation firms use them for ad hoc vendor payouts, with many willing to pay fees for the speed. Among businesses with frequent urgent payment needs, full-fee instant payments occur twice as often compared to those with fewer urgency demands. Drivers are also willing to pay for speed. Roughly 37% say they would be very or extremely willing to pay a fee for instant earnings, citing access to fuel money, fewer banking delays and peace of mind. That level of preference — stronger than the general population — suggests the industry is overdue for a shift. To meet the moment, companies must modernize internal systems, simplify payment flows and embed instant payout options wherever possible. Real-time rails such as the RTP® network and the FedNow® Service offer the infrastructure to make this happen. Truckers don’t just want to get paid faster — they need it. Companies that deliver will gain efficiency and loyalty in an industry where both are in short supply.

The ability for large enterprises to disburse funds instantly has become a key strategic priority, especially when demands for immediate payments are high. For businesses where a large share of ad hoc payments needs to be sent urgently, instant methods are evolving into a vital strategic tool. Enterprises with a high need for urgent ad hoc payments are significantly more inclined to adopt instant payment methods. As detailed by PYMNTS Intelligence and Ingo Payments in the report “Instant Payments: A Strategic Tool for Vendor Relationships and Urgent Transactions,” businesses with elevated urgent payment needs are five times more likely to use instant payments to maintain strong vendor relationships. This necessity extends beyond mere operational efficiency; it is deeply rooted in the business need to avert disruptions, guarantee timely service or delivery, and, crucially, strengthen and safeguard positive vendor relationships. Drawing on recent data from a survey of 200 large U.S. enterprises, several specific use cases stand out where instant payments address critical high-urgency demands: Payments to Gig Workers: Gig economy workers rely on immediate payments to sustain their work and financial stability. This makes instant disbursements an essential feature for companies utilizing freelance or gig labor. Data indicates that 97% of payments sent to gig workers were deemed urgent. Payments to Fuel Providers: Providers of fuel to trucking companies also have a very high urgency level for payments. The sources show that 97% of payments due to companies that provide fuel to trucking companies need to be sent urgently. Tip Payouts to Tipped Service Workers: Hospitality service workers receiving tips represent another group with a significant need for urgent payment. According to the sources, 95.5% of tip payouts to service workers require immediate disbursement, while 96% for payments due on tips to hospitality workers were classified as urgent. Payments to Vendors to Avoid Service Interruption: A critical driver for instant payment adoption, particularly among businesses with high urgent needs, is preventing vendors from refusing to provide goods or services until payment is made. Fifty-four percent of senders with high payment urgency needs would pay even more to send a payment instantly if a vendor refused delivery before payment. Payments for Temporary or Seasonal Workers: One percent of payments for temporary or seasonal workers were deemed urgent by senders. Ensuring these workers are paid promptly upon completion of their tasks is essential for managing temporary workforces effectively and maintaining operational flow.