Americans are moving toward invisible payments, new Interledger survey finds

A new Interledger Foundation report finds U.S. consumers are increasingly open to cashless, cardless and automatic payments, while businesses are also backing away from cash. The shift matters because the payment infrastructure behind these experiences is still fragmented and not built to make them seamless at scale.

Why it matters: - Consumers want payments that happen with little or no action, but the systems behind those transactions are still fragmented. - The shift could accelerate the move away from cash and physical cards, while exposing gaps in payment infrastructure across banks, wallets and providers. - Businesses and consumers are moving in the same direction, which could push faster adoption of more automated payment rails.

What happened: - The Interledger Foundation released Out of Sight, Out of Mind: What US Payment Preferences Reveal About the Future of Finance, the second report in its Future of Digital Finance series. - The national report found 51% of U.S. consumers would be open to giving up cash entirely. - The survey found 35% of consumers would be open to abandoning physical payment cards. - 68% of consumers said they love or like subscription-based payment models. - 78% of businesses said cash accounts for 50% or less of their transactions. - 10% of businesses said they accept no cash at all.

The details: - The report is based on a national survey commissioned by the Interledger Foundation and conducted by Dynata. - The survey included responses from 1,004 U.S. consumers and 253 U.S. businesses. - The Interledger Foundation builds and advocates for an open, interoperable payment network. - The organization says its work is designed to increase access to digital financial services for 1.3 billion people worldwide who are currently excluded from traditional banking systems. - The foundation works with partners to integrate the Interledger Protocol into existing and emerging financial and payments infrastructure. - The organization said it has large-scale projects underway with Wallet Guru, People’s Clearinghouse and miPlata. - The full report is available here.

Between the lines: - The data suggests convenience is becoming the main standard for payments, not a bonus feature. - Consumer comfort with subscriptions and auto-pay may reduce the visibility of individual transactions. - Briana Marbury, president and CEO of the Interledger Foundation, said payments are increasingly expected to be effortless, but the infrastructure remains disconnected across financial systems. - That gap between user expectations and back-end plumbing is likely to be the central challenge for payment providers.

What's next: - The Interledger Foundation is likely to use the report to argue for more interoperable payment systems. - Payment providers, banks and wallet operators may face more pressure to make cross-platform transactions feel seamless. - The broader push toward invisible payments could continue as digital wallets make physical cards less necessary.

The bottom line: - Americans are increasingly ready to stop thinking about how they pay, but the payment system is not yet built to make that experience universal.