Merchant acceptance is the real challenge for alternative payment methods, Thales VP, Digital Wallet Romain Soulard writes in a new PYMNTS eBook, “Payments Leaders Rethink What Works in 2026.”

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At the beginning of 2026, I believed domestic account-based wallets would remain largely focused on peer-to-peer payments, with eCommerce representing their next area of expansion. What I did not anticipate was how quickly they would move into everyday in-store commerce.

My assumption was that international card networks would continue to dominate checkout experience, while alternative domestic rails would remain concentrated around peer-to-peer, account-to-account and online payments.

Two developments quickly challenged that assumption and highlighted the ability of domestic instant schemes to move beyond their traditional use cases, and into everyday in-store commerce.

The first was consumer adoption. Millions of users were already making peer-to-peer payments every day directly from their bank accounts. What initially emerged as a simple and convenient way to transfer money between individuals gradually became accepted for a wider range of transactions, including payments to small businesses and merchants operating without traditional payment acceptance infrastructure.

The second was technology. NFC contactless payments through mobile have become the standard consumer experience in physical stores. As a result, domestic payment initiatives increasingly see in-store NFC acceptance as the natural next step in their evolution, enabling consumers to use their rails through the same seamless tap they experience today.

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