Global Merchant Payment Infrastructure Advances Through Integrated Acceptance, Acquiring, and Payment Orchestration in 2026
Hamburg-based secondary market research firm yStats.com analyzes the evolution of global merchant payment infrastructure in its latest publication, "Global Merchant Payments, Acceptance & Acquiring Infrastructure Market 2026." The report examines developments across merchant acceptance, acquiring, payment gateways, orchestration, digital wallets, contactless and QR payments, merchant economics, security, and software-enabled commerce infrastructure.
Why This Matters: Merchant acceptance is moving beyond channel-specific systems toward integrated infrastructure connecting checkout, acquiring, authentication, routing, and settlement. At the same time, payment diversity and software-based commerce are increasing demand for flexible, interoperable payment infrastructure.
Key Highlights
• Globally, transaction-related payments revenue is forecast to increase from over USD 650 billion in 2024 to more than USD 900 billion by 2029.
• Globally, mobile money merchant payment value reached USD 155 billion in 2025, increasing by over 40% YoY and more than doubling from 2021.
• In East Asia & Pacific, over 80% of adults in low- and middle-income economies made or received digital payments in 2024, compared with below 45% in South Asia and Middle East & North Africa.
"Merchant payment infrastructure is developing toward increasingly integrated environments where acceptance, acquiring, routing, and transaction management operate together," says Yücel Yelken, Founder and CEO of yStats.com. "Payment providers and merchants continue expanding interoperable capabilities while payment performance, flexibility, and security remain important priorities."
Merchant Acceptance Becomes More Integrated
Digital wallets, contactless payments, QR acceptance, tokenization, and standardized interfaces are connecting merchant payment experiences across physical and digital commerce.
Acquiring and Payment Management Become More Software-Enabled
Gateways, orchestration, and multi-acquirer architectures increasingly support provider connectivity, routing, resilience, and transaction-performance management.
Merchant Economics and Security Shape Infrastructure
Merchants increasingly balance payment costs with conversion and operational performance, while authentication, tokenization, compliance, and fraud controls strengthen security across the payment lifecycle.
Access the Full Report
For detailed insights into merchant acceptance, acquiring, orchestration, merchant economics, security, technology, and regional developments, access "Global Merchant Payments, Acceptance & Acquiring Infrastructure Market 2026."
