AI Boom Fuels ROI in North America's Payments Sector but Oversight Struggles to Keep Pace
This report provides data-driven insights into how Artificial Intelligence (AI), with a particular focus on Generative AI (GenAI), is advancing across the U.S. and Canada. It examines adoption levels, scaling progress, ROI outcomes, and governance readiness, offering guidance for payment providers, E-Commerce firms, financial institutions, and corporate clients.
AI adoption in North America’s payments and E-Commerce in 2025 is scaling rapidly, delivering strong ROI gains, while regulatory readiness gaps continue to persist.
AI adoption grows, but readiness gaps remain
By 2025, nearly half of North American firms were using GenAI for tasks like text generation, yet many remain stuck in trial phases rather than scaling to full production. U.S. organizations advanced faster, but structural gaps in governance slowed progress. In Canada, most projects were still at proof-of-concept, with fewer than 40% expected to move into live use this year.
Payments and E-Commerce take the lead
The payments sector emerged as a frontrunner in functional AI, with U.S. financial firms deploying tools for fraud prevention, personalization, and risk control. Globally, AI supported operations across a digital payments market of about USD 20 trillion. CFOs became central drivers of adoption, while Canada’s firms continued with a more measured rollout, with employee-level usage growing steadily.
Scaling accelerates returns, but hurdles remain
In the U.S., production use cases doubled in just a year, boosting productivity and customer engagement while improving ROI. Yet data quality, privacy risks, and talent shortages remain major barriers to broader adoption. Governance also lagged, as only a minority of firms applied robust responsible-AI frameworks. Trust challenges persist, with many consumers still preferring human service over AI.
Key Questions Answered
- What were the top AI adoption barriers in North America in 2025?
- At what stage of AI adoption were Canadian firms in 2025?
- What share of U.S. adults used AI daily in 2025?
- What were the most common daily AI tasks among U.S. adults in 2025?
- How many Canadian firms had AI training plans in 2025?
Table of Contents
1. Key Takeaways2. Management Summary
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Companies Mentioned (Partial List)
A selection of companies mentioned in this report includes, but is not limited to:
- Notion
- Citizens Bank
- Mastercard
- Stripe
- Perplexity
- Meta
- Microsoft
- Amazon
- OpenAI
