BPC publishes new guide to help financial institutions build next-generation close and open-loop wallet ecosystems

BPC, a global leader in payment solutions, has released its latest industry guide, Your Essential Guide on How to Build Closed and Open-Loop Wallet Ecosystems, offering banks, fintechs, and payment service providers a roadmap for designing, launching, and scaling digital wallet platforms in the rapidly evolving payments landscape.

Digital wallets are now at the forefront of financial innovation, with an estimated 3.4 billion in active use globally, facilitating nearly $9 trillion in annual payments. By 2026, adoption is forecast to reach 5.4 billion users, making wallets a primary financial tool for nearly two-thirds of the global population by 2030.

The guide highlights several important market insights:

• Merchants integrating digital wallets experience a 25–30% increase in average transaction values.
• In Sub-Saharan Africa, mobile wallets processed more than 17 billion transactions in the first half of 2024, making the region a global leader in mobile money adoption.
• In Asia-Pacific, India’s UPI now handles over 16 billion monthly transactions, largely enabled by wallet ecosystems.
• In Europe, digital wallets already account for 44% of e-commerce payments, with growth projected to accelerate by over 20% through 2029.

“Digital wallets are no longer just a payment tool, they are the cornerstone of future financial & digital ecosystems. Our new guide empowers financial institutions to move from strategy to execution, helping them unlock new revenue streams, drive financial inclusion, execute at scale and compete in a rapidly digitising economy,” said Imran Vilcassim, Global Chief Commercial Officer, Digital Banking, BPC.

The new guide examines the entire range of wallet ecosystems, from closed-loop models that foster customer loyalty within brand-controlled networks to open-loop systems enabling global interoperability through integration with major payment networks like Visa, Mastercard, and UnionPay. It offers a step-by-step guide to transitioning from a closed-loop environment to a fully open-loop ecosystem, addressing key challenges such as regulatory compliance, fraud prevention, interoperability, and scalability.

BPC’s SmartVista platform offers a foundation for developing both closed and open-loop wallet systems, featuring modular, microservices-based architecture, multi-currency and multi-channel support, and smooth integration with global payment networks. Its advanced security, loyalty, and real-time transaction features enable institutions to provide user-friendly, scalable, and compliant wallet solutions.

You can download the complete guide here.