At NMI, we’ve talked often about how the best payment is an invisible one — the one you never even realize is happening. Until now, that idea has mostly applied to traditional shopping channels like online, in-store and mobile. But I truly believe that invisible payments are about to enter a new phase and become a foundational layer across a much broader range of consumer technologies.
Three key forces are aligning to make that possible:
- The widespread availability of embeddable payments infrastructure
- A growing awareness across the tech sector of the untapped revenue potential in payments
- The rise of advanced automation (particularly AI agents) which will enable payments to happen more intelligently and effortlessly
Combined with mounting consumer expectations for speed and convenience, this evolution will push invisible payments far beyond the checkout counter. They’ll begin to appear wherever people interact with connected technology, from their cars and their homes to emerging virtual environments.
The Opportunity to Embed (and Monetize) Payments Is Everywhere
Growing opportunity and increasing availability will fuel the rise of invisible payments across the Internet of Things (IoT) ecosystem.
Over the past decade, payments have evolved from being a bolt-on utility to a real strategic advantage. What used to be a standalone function is now an integral feature of many software experiences, improving user satisfaction, strengthening engagement and opening up new revenue streams.
In other words, businesses everywhere, across all industries, are waking up to the fact that payments aren’t just about processing transactions: they’re a key part of both the user experience (UX) and monetization strategy.
At the same time, thanks to affordable, reliable internet, mobile technology and the rise of IoT, we now live in a world where almost everyone and everything is connected 24/7. For instance, take an ordinary household item like a fridge; a quick Best Buy search shows that about a third of refrigerators now come with app connectivity. And that kind of smart integration is spreading across countless other consumer products.
We’re now at a point where companies not only want to embed payments, they can. And they have no shortage of technologies that can support them. The technology is ready and accessible. And as that continues, more connected devices and environments will gain built-in payment capabilities, accelerating the shift towards invisible, embedded payments.
Agentic Commerce Will Play a Role in Invisible IoT Payments
We’re standing at the threshold of truly useful agentic commerce, and I’m sure 2026 will shape up to be a pivotal year for its development and adoption. As AI agents become more capable and reliable, they’ll play a central role in the next generation of invisible payments, automating the entire purchasing process, right down to the submission of tokenized payment credentials.
True automation, alongside opportunity and availability, will complete the triangle to make the entire shopping experience as invisible as possible.
Imagine today’s smart fridge, but upgraded with built-in payments capability and a built-in shopping agent. Using computer vision, the fridge could recognize when you’re running low on milk or out of eggs and automatically reorder what’s needed — doing the shopping and executing the payment without you ever lifting a finger.
This kind of autonomous, agentic automation isn’t quite here yet, but we’re getting close. 2026 will mark real progress towards these types of capabilities, and by 2027, we could see the first true integrations between agentic shopping systems with in-home consumer IoT technologies.
Key Places You’ll See Invisible Payments in 2026
In the past, I’ve talked about wearable payment devices as an emerging trend in digital payments innovation. But we’re now moving beyond things like payment-enabled watches and fitness trackers. Invisible payments will begin showing up across a range of technologies, and the three I see with the biggest opportunities are cars, homes and virtual spaces.
Invisible Payments in the Car
Imagine pulling up to a gas station, pumping your gas and driving away, all without giving any thought to the payment. Or speaking to your car in plain language, telling it what you want to eat, pulling up to a drive-through, grabbing your bag and just driving off.
In-car payments are already being rolled out on a limited basis through systems like Mercedes Pay+. But I expect to see more brands roll out their own systems very soon. Why? Because it makes too much sense not to.
The infotainment systems in even entry-level cars are now like giant smartphones embedded in your dashboard. With near-field communication (NFC), in-vehicle Wi-Fi, QR codes and the option to pair your car with your phone’s data, there is no shortage of ways to connect a car to an outside payment system using either a native digital wallet or a tokenized credit card.
Invisible Payments Throughout the Smart Home
Smart homes are connecting everything from our doorbells and our lightbulbs to the internet. That opens up a myriad of potential applications for invisible IoT payments that make our lives easier.
We’ve all been there — you’re trying to print something important, and suddenly your printer refuses because the cyan ink is too low. (You’re not even trying to print anything blue!) Then you’re left debating whether to run out to Staples or order online and wait a day or two to finish the job. But really, why should that kind of inconvenience even exist? The printer already knows the ink is running low, and it’s connected to the internet. The only missing piece is an embedded payment feature that could automatically reorder the ink before you ever run out.
Did your coffee maker detect that you just used your 30th pod this month? Did your pool detect that the water needs treatment? There are countless examples of smart technology that knows when something is needed, but just doesn’t yet have a way to act on it.
With a built-in payments layer and a tokenized payment method, devices could automatically handle on-demand replenishment for items throughout the home. Alternatively, devices could sync with a centralized management app that compiles shopping lists and processes purchases on a daily, weekly or monthly basis. This isn’t some distant vision; it’s the very near future, and we could see it take shape as soon as 2026.
Invisible Payments in Virtual Reality:
Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) are perfectly suited for invisible payments because they offer a way to bridge the gap between in-store browsing and online shopping — letting people explore, experience and buy without ever leaving home.
We’re already seeing early examples in the gaming world with payment systems like Steam Wallet, PlayStation Store and Meta Pay. But virtual shopping, or immersive commerce, is about to expand far beyond that.
Picture this: you throw on your Apple Vision Pro and start trying on clothes from your favorite brand in front of your own bedroom mirror. Or you stroll through a virtual version of your favorite store. You place an Ikea sofa in your living room in 3D to see how it fits. And when you’re ready to buy, your voiceprint or an iris scan authorizes a tokenized payment instantly.
This kind of seamless experience isn’t far off. As VR and AR wearables, like Meta’s Gen 2 AI-powered Ray-Bans, become smaller, more capable and more affordable, they’ll bring a wave of new opportunities for truly invisible payments in immersive environments.
Embedded Payments Already Dominate, Now It’s Time for Them to Proliferate
On the merchant side, commerce has already gone digital, with about half of small businesses now using a software platform as their payment provider. But we’re soon going to see a big shift on the consumer side as:
- Companies work to capture more of the customer journey, and
- Invisible, embedded payments become part of the connected devices that surround us
Whether it’s paying for gas from the driver’s seat or a printer restocking its own ink, the proliferation of invisible payments represents a massive opportunity for everyone involved.
For software companies and device manufacturers, it’s a chance to innovate and find new, creative ways to integrate payments into everyday consumer products. For sellers, it’s about meeting customers where they already are, creating seamless checkout and payment experiences that work effortlessly with emerging, payment-enabled technologies.
Embedded payments have already become a foundation of modern commerce. Now, they’re set to move beyond apps and screens and into the physical world around us. And when that happens, paying won’t just be seamless. It’ll be invisible.
To learn more about how we’re enabling our partners to stay at the forefront of payments innovation, reach out to a member of our team.