30 April 2026

Polar Moment’s Payments Perspective: April 2026

Payments news from April 2026: the rise of digital wallets in the UK, Revolut’s AI-powered assistant, and key insights from the Retail Technology Show.

Growth of Digital Wallets

Global Payments’ latest report highlights the continued rise of digital wallets in the UK. Spending is projected to grow from £269 billion in 2025 to £453 billion by 2030 — a 68% increase.

Adoption is no longer limited to younger consumers. While two-thirds of 18–24-year-olds already prefer wallets, older people are steadily adopting them.

Despite this shift cards remain dominant. They account for 46% of online and 69% of in-store spending. They will continue to underpin many wallet transactions. Rather than replacing cards entirely, wallets are accelerating the evolution to a more seamless experience.

For merchants, the takeaway is clear: supporting digital wallets is no longer optional: it’s essential to satisfy customer expectations across all age groups.

Find out more here: Global Payments report finds digital wallets set to grow 68% in the UK by 2030 (opens in a new tab).

Revolut’s AI-Powered Financial Assistant

Revolut has launched AIR, its first AI-powered in-app financial assistant. This allows users to manage their finances through natural, conversational interactions.

The assistant enables a wide range of tasks such as tracking spending, monitoring investments and freezing cards. It also introduces travel-related features such as budgeting and purchasing eSIMs directly within the app.

Importantly, Revolut has stated that AIR does not retain user data and only accesses information already visible to the customer.

Find out more here: Revolut launches AI-powered in-app financial assistant (opens in a new tab).

John Rozek and Bhavik Patel on the Castles Technology stand at the Retail Technology show

Retail Technology Show 2026

This month, Polar Moment’s John Rozek attended the Retail Technology Show. He caught up with partners and explored the latest developments across retail and payments technology.

John spent some time on the Castles Technology stand and got to see how their solutions are evolving to support more flexible, connected in-store experiences.

From conversations on the show floor to hands-on demos, one theme stood out: the continued convergence of software, hardware, and payments to deliver more flexible and connected in-store experiences.