AI in North America's Payments and E-Commerce: Scaling, ROI, and Regulatory Readiness 2025

Description

yStats.com reports that 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.

Product Code: 1702

1. Key Takeaways

2. Management Summary

3. AI Adoption Landscape & Regional Patterns

3.1. North America: Adoption Benchmarks
- 3.1.1. Regional
- North America: Functional Deployment of Generative AI, in % of Respondents, Feb - Mar 2025
- North America: Organizational Maturity Levels of Generative AI Adoption, in % of Resp., 2024 & 2025
- North America: Status of Organizational AI Strategy Development, in % of Respondents, Feb. - Mar 2025
- North America: Organizational Readiness to Implement Generative AI, in % of Resp., Feb - Mar 2025
- 3.1.2. U.S.
- U.S.: Organizational AI Adoption, in % of Respondents, 2024 - 2025
- U.S.: Agentic AI Deployment by Business Function, in % of Respondents, 2024 & 2025
- U.S.: Employee Use of AI at Work by Frequency, in % of Respondents, 2023 - 2025
- U.S.: Using AI in the Past Six Months vs. Daily Among Adults, in % of Respondents, April 2025
- U.S.: AI Usage by Task Type in Daily Life Among Adults, in % of Respondents, April 2025
- U.S.: AI Usage by Task Type Among Adults, in % of Resp. Routinely Performing Each Activity, April 2025
- U.S.: AI Investment Plans Among Midsize Companies and Private Equity Firms, in % of Respondents, 2023 & 2024
- 3.1.3. Canada
- Canada: Organizational GenAI Experiments and Stage of Adoption, in % of Respondents, Jan - Feb 2025
- Canada: Use of Generative AI at Work and Frequency Among Users, in % of Respondents, August 2024
- Canada: Generative AI Adoption by Province, in % of Respondents, 2023 & 2024
3.2. Seller Segmentation & Barriers
- 3.2.1. Regional
- North America: Key Barriers to Generative AI Adoption, in % of Respondents, Feb - Mar 2025
- North America: Planned Changes in AI Budgets, in % of Respondents, Feb - Mar 2025
- 3.2.2. U.S.
- U.S.: Leading Barriers to Generative AI Adoption, in % of Respondents, Jul - Dec 2024
- U.S.: Main Barriers to Responsible AI Investment, in % of Respondents, April 2024
- U.S.: Leading Barriers to Agentic AI Adoption, in % of Respondents, 2024 & 2025
- U.S.: C-Suite Perceptions of GenAI Tool Development and Release Pace, in % of Respondents, Oct - Nov 2024
- U.S.: Top C-Suite Perceived Reasons for Slow GenAI Tool Development, in % of Respondents, Oct - Nov 2024
- U.S.: Presence and Type of Benchmark Standards for GenAI Tools, in % of Respondents, Oct - Nov 2024
- U.S.: C-Suite Assessment of Organizational Generative AI Maturity Levels, in % of Resp., Oct - Nov 2024
- U.S.: GenAI Performance Satisfaction Among Org. with Met or Exceeded Expectations, in % of Resp., Dec 2024
- U.S.: Recommendation and Successful Resolution of GenAI Tools, in % of Respondents, Oct - Nov 2024
- U.S.: Top Reasons GenAI Fell Short of Expectations, in % of Resp. by Devel. and Prod. Stage, 2023 - 2024
- U.S.: Using and Interacting With AI Daily by Generation, in % of Respondents, April 2025
- U.S.: Using and Interacting With AI Daily by Employment Status, in % of Respondents, April 2025
- U.S.: Using and Interacting With AI Daily by Income Group, in % of Respondents, April 2025
- U.S.: Frequent Employee Use of AI at Work by Role, in % of Respondents, 2023 - 2025
- U.S.: Extensive Generative AI Familiarity by Employee Age Group, in % of Respondents, Oct - Nov 2024
- U.S.: Comfort With Generative AI at Work by Employee Age Group, in % of Respondents, Oct - Nov 2024
- U.S.: Provision of Feedback on Generative AI Tools by Employee Age Group, in % of Respondents, Oct - Nov 2024
- U.S.: Interest in Participation in GenAI Tool Design by Employee Age Group, in % of Respondents, Oct - Nov 2024
- U.S.: Expectations on AI's Impact in Midsize Companies and Private Equity Firms, in % of Respondents, 2023 & 2024
- 3.2.3. Canada
- Canada: Use of Public vs. Private Generative AI Tools at Work, in % of Respondents, August 2024
- Canada: Planned GenAI Deployment Methods and Implementation Teams, in % of Resp., Jan - Feb 2025

4. Functional Use Cases & Economic Impact

4.1. E-Commerce Seller Operations
- U.S.: AI, AR, Blockchain, Mobile Commerce, and Social Commerce in B2C E-Commerce, April 2024
- U.S.: GenAI Usage by Use Case Among Agencies, in % of Respondents, June 2024
- U.S.: Expected Areas of GenAI Impact Within Agencies, in % of Respondents, June 2024
- U.S.: Share of Retail Decision Makers Who Feel Ready to Deploy Generative AI Technology in 2024, in %, November 2023
- Canada: Top Generative AI Use Cases at Work, in % of Respondents, August 2024
4.2. Payments & FinTech Use Cases
- North America: Most Appealing AI Use Cases in Financial Services, in % of Respondents, 2024
- U.S.: AI Use in Finance by Function, Leadership Role, and Governance Priorities, June 2025
- U.S.: AI-Driven Fraud Prevention, Personalization, and Governance in Payments, August 2025
- U.S.: AI-Driven Shopping Capabilities, Virtual Card Integration, and Adoption Barriers in Payments, Aug 2025
- U.S.: Agentic AI Transaction Execution, Operational Applications, and Secure Payments, August 2025
- U.S.: Top AI Use Cases Including Payment Automation and Fraud Detection, in % of Respondents, 2023 & 2024
- U.S.: Leadership Roles Driving AI Adoption in Financial Processes, in % of Respondents, 2023 & 2024
- U.S.: Share of CFOs Who Say AI Has Reduced Their Need for Lower-Skill Workers, in %, February 2024
- U.S.: Share of CFOs Who Say AI Has Increased Their Need for More Analytically Skilled Workers, in %, February 2024
- U.S.: Areas Where AI Has Increased vs. Decreased the Need for Higher- vs. Lower-Skilled Workers, by Task Complexity, in % of CFOs, February 2024

5. Risk Management, Trust & Security

5.1. Fraud & Threat Trends
- U.S.: Job Cut Announcements, Impact of AI and Economic Pressures, in Number of Cuts, 2024 & 2025
- U.S.: Tech Sector Job Cuts, Impact of AI and Automation, in Number of Cuts, 2024 & 2025
5.2. Trust & Readiness
- U.S.: Employee Concerns About Generative AI Risks, in % of Respondents, Oct - Nov 2024
- U.S.: Top Reported Benefits from Responsible AI Investment, in % of Respondents, April 2024
- U.S.: Fully Implemented Responsible AI Capabilities for AI and GenAI, in % of Companies, April 2024
- U.S.: Employees and C-Suite Usage of Generative AI for Over 30% of Daily Tasks, in % of Resp., Oct - Nov 2024
- U.S.: Factors for Increased Daily GenAI Usage Among Employees, in % of Respondents, Oct - Nov 2024
- U.S.: Perceived Level of Organizational Support for GenAI Capability Building, in % of Resp., Oct - Nov 2024
- U.S.: Share of CFOs That Say Their Access to AI Technology Is Very or Extremely Important, in %, February 2024
- U.S.: Share of CFOs That Say the AI Automation Thay Are Now Using to Support Their AP Cycle Is Not at All or Only Slightly Important, in %, February 2024
- Canada: Employee-Reported Workplace Policies on GenAI Use, in % of Respondents, August 2024
- Canada: Generative AI Training Readiness, in % of Respondents, Jan - Feb 2025
5.3. Regulation & Compliance
- U.S.: Primary Drivers of Responsible AI Investment, in % of Respondents, April 2024
- U.S.: Top Reasons for Not Using AI, in % of Respondents, in % of Non-Adopting Respondents, April 2025
- Canada: Top Reasons for Not Using Generative AI at Work, in % of Respondents, August 2024

6. Competitive Landscape & Strategic AI Movement

6.1. Market Scale & Activity
- U.S.: Average AI Budgets by Company Revenue Segment, in USD millions, Feb 2024 & Dec 2024
- U.S.: Average AI Use Cases in Production, in Number of Use Cases, Oct 2023 & Dec 2024
- U.S.: Positive ROI by AI Budget Allocation and Business Function, in % of Respondents, 2024 & 2025
- U.S.: Positive ROI from AI by Business Area and Survey Wave, in % of Respondents, 2024 & 2025
- U.S.: Presence and Maturity of GenAI Road Maps Among C-Suite Leaders, in % of Respondents, Oct - Nov 2024
- U.S.: Revenue-Generating GenAI Use Case Identification by C-Suite Leaders, in % of Respondents, Oct - Nov 2024
- U.S.: C-Suite Perception of Revenue Changes from Generative AI, in % of Respondents, Oct - Nov 2024
- U.S.: C-Suite Perception of Cost Changes from Generative AI, in % of Respondents, Oct - Nov 2024
- U.S.: C-Suite Expectations for GenAI Revenue Growth Over the Next 3 Years, in % of Resp., Oct - Nov 2024
- U.S.: Share of Total Potential Economic Value from GenAI by Business Function, in % of Resp., Oct - Nov 2024
- U.S.: Leading AI Assistants by Provider, in % of Respondents, April 2025
- Canada: SMBs' AI Investment Plans and Priorities, in % of Respondents, January 2025
- Canada: AI Adoption Rates, Competitive Positioning, and Sectoral Strengths, August 2025
6.2. Strategic Moves by Key Players
- U.S.: AI Capital Expenditures and Leading Technology Firms, September 2025
- U.S.: AI Infrastructure Scaling and Investor Confidence, September 2025

7. AI Governance, Regulation & Innovation Enablers

7.1. Regional Public & Private Sector AI Initiatives
- North America: Top Internal Strategies to Track AI Regulatory Changes, in % of Resp., Feb - Mar 2025
- North America: Top External Strategies to Track AI Regulatory Changes, in % of Resp., Feb - Mar 2025
7.2. U.S. AI Innovation Frameworks
- U.S.: AI Infrastructure Development, Diplomatic Engagement, and Value-Based Export Strategy, August 2025