Traditional Payments Still Dominate Despite Rise of Real-Time Transfers
Even with the rapid growth of real-time account-to-account transfers globally, traditional payment cards remain the dominant force in the commercial landscape. This trend is fueled by the widespread adoption of contactless technology, the persistent expansion of e-commerce, and the digitization of business-to-business transactions. According to the Nilson Report, global card transactions are expected to reach 1.1 trillion annually by 2029, up from 776 billion in 2024, marking a significant 43 percent increase over five years.
ACI Worldwide Introduces Next-Generation Card Modernization Suite
Amid this dynamic growth, global payments technology leader ACI Worldwide has unveiled ACI Connetic for Cards. This new card modernization suite is seamlessly integrated within ACI Connetic, the industry’s first unified cloud-native payments hub. The suite consolidates card issuing, acquiring, and ATM and self-service operations into a highly modular system. Notably, it features embedded, real-time AI-driven fraud intelligence to enhance security across every transaction.
Enhancing Core Payment Infrastructure
ACI’s market-leading solutions currently process over 300 billion card transactions annually. ACI Connetic for Cards enhances this robust capability by uniting the company’s global strengths on one advanced platform. This enterprise-grade suite encompasses the complete transaction lifecycle of each payment, capturing and authenticating data across channels, intelligently routing transactions, and securely authorizing and clearing payments. By consolidating essential functions, the platform delivers the scalability, resilience, and advanced capabilities necessary for modernizing card operations while fostering ongoing business growth.
Legacy Systems Under Pressure as Card Usage Grows
As global card usage continues to increase, financial institutions are compelled to reassess the adequacy of their legacy platforms in meeting future demands. ACI emphasizes the importance of having a clear modernization strategy, executed at a pace that aligns with each institution’s unique needs.
Insights on Cloud-Native Flexibility
Thomas Warsop, CEO and president of ACI Worldwide, underscored the strategic significance of this launch. He mentioned that the introduction of ACI Connetic set a new standard for banking operations in the digital era. With ACI Connetic for Cards, the company aims to enhance core retail payments by modernizing essential issuing, acquiring, and ATM functionalities critical to banks. This initiative ultimately lays the groundwork for institutions to embrace innovative services and agile operations.
The Need for Risk-Aware Payments Infrastructure
Echoing these sentiments, Bill Farris, head of issuing and acquiring at ACI Worldwide, highlighted that financial institutions urgently require payment infrastructure that can evolve without increasing risk. He stressed that this modern infrastructure is designed to adapt at the pace customers need while ensuring stability remains intact.
Embracing Unified, Cloud-Native Architectures
More financial institutions are gravitating toward unified, cloud-native architectures to streamline operations and accelerate innovation across all payment types. Peter Hüftlein, head of product accounts at Solaris SE, commended the platform’s integrated approach, indicating that it enables Solaris to simplify operations, expedite change, and foster innovation across various payment avenues with significantly improved control.
First introduced in 2025, ACI Connetic initially combined account-to-account payments, card transactions, and AI-driven fraud prevention. The platform has maintained its momentum through 2026 with new deployments, and this latest expansion focusing on cards is a natural progression in its continued evolution.