Payments Executives on What Worked, What Failed and What Comes Next for Commerce in 2026

At 60 million and growing, the U.S. Labor Economy represents a sizeable segment of the country’s manpower. Yet, even as these individuals serve food, staff warehouses, drive trucks, staff events, care for patients and otherwise keep local commerce moving, it rarely receives attention in mainstream economic narratives. This disconnect framed a recent podcast between PYMNTS CEO Karen Webster, Ingo Payments CEO Drew Edwards and WorkWhile COO Simon Khalaf. The discussion centered on findings from the latest Wage to Wallet Index, which examines how timing with regard to pay, not just job availability, increasingly determines financial stability for hourly workers. A Consumption Engine That Rarely Gets Counted Webster emphasized that the Labor Economy is not peripheral to GDP — it is foundational. “This is a workforce where what they earn, they spend,” Webster said. “That spending shows up in local economies,” which makes wage volatility an economic issue, not just a personal one. The Wage to Wallet data reveals what Webster described as a “mirror image economy.” Salaried workers report growing optimism, while hourly workers are more pessimistic even as they report strong job security. Employment alone, the data shows, does not translate into trust when pay is unpredictable. When a 4,700-Year-Old System Meets Modern Bills Much of that instability stems from payroll itself. Khalaf described paychecks as a “4,700-year-old construct,” tracing modern payroll back to ancient Mesopotamia. “We are still waiting two weeks to get paid,” Khalaf said, contrasting that delay with capital markets where settlement happens in seconds. The result is a timing mismatch that forces workers into what Webster called “Bill Pay Roulette.” Bills tied to employment — transportation, phones, childcare — get paid first, while other bills are put on hold. Late fees accumulate. Credit bridges the gap. Timing, Not Behavior, Is the Breaking Point Edwards pushed back on the assumption that financial instability reflects poor decision-making. “They have the least visibility and the least control,” he said. Hourly workers often don’t know how many hours they’ll work in a week, yet face fixed costs. A simple meal costs the same regardless of income, turning timing gaps into structural stress. These gaps are increasingly bridged with high-cost loans. Khalaf noted that many workers borrow at annualized rates north of 60%, making progress on eliminating debt mathematically impossible. “That’s why the [debt] stack keeps growing,” he said. What Platforms Actually Change Both executives argued that platforms are beginning to address the root causes through redesigning how work, pay and data connect. Ingo Payments focuses on eliminating friction at the moment of pay. Edwards said his company specializes in accelerating disbursements so workers can choose when and how they receive earnings, removing fraud risk and reversals embedded in paper checks and slow rails. Real-time ledgering, he added, shifts risk away from those workers least able to absorb it. WorkWhile approaches the problem earlier in the cycle. Khalaf said the platform connects workers and employers in verticals like hospitality and logistics, offering next-day or real-time pay alongside flexible scheduling. Increasingly, WorkWhile is using AI to forecast labor demand, predict income and map upcoming obligations. “We’re building a map of everything you owe and what work opportunities are available to cover it,” Khalaf said, describing how workers could see upcoming bills alongside suggested shifts before financial stress hits. Webster underscored the significance of that shift. “For the first time, technology makes it possible to align when work is done with when money is needed,” she said. “That alignment changes decision-making.” From Worker Stability to Supply Stability The conversation also reframed labor stability as an operational advantage. Khalaf argued that predictable income creates predictable staffing, which, in turn, creates predictable service delivery. “Worker stability is supply stability,” he said, linking individual financial health to employer reliability and customer experience. Edwards emphasized that these models come with a cost, but are well worth it. “Give people choices,” he said, in a nod to the benefits that accrue to providers. “When value is clear, people will pay for speed, certainty and control.” A More Durable System As the conversation closed, Webster returned to the broader opportunity. Fixing Bill Pay Roulette, she said, is not about overhauling labor markets overnight, but about modernizing the connection between work performed and pay received. If income arrives when it is needed, financial decision-making becomes less reactive and more intentional — with benefits that extend beyond individual households to employers and local economies. Khalaf summed up the path forward more simply: “Math is the truth.”

Construction timelines depend on precision, coordination and confidence, but slow payments continue to undermine all three. Across the industry, contractors report that late disbursements are far more damaging than weather or materials issues. These late payments create cascading delays that fracture schedules, inflate bids and weaken trust between owners and crews. As financing pressures rise and margins tighten, the cost of slow payments is becoming untenable, prompting construction firms to reassess how liquidity and payment speed shape both project delivery and competitiveness. A recent industry study finds that 70% of general contractors and subcontractors regularly encounter payment delays. Separate research shows that 47% of construction pros say these setbacks add one to two weeks to project timelines. Nearly 30% report delays of three to six weeks. These disruptions require contractors to reassign crews, scale back work or halt construction projects entirely—decisions that erode productivity and increase operational costs. The financial ripple effects are equally significant. Contractors pad bids by an average of 8% to protect against cash flow gaps. Sixty percent say an owner’s payment reliability influences whether they bid at all. Delays also expose structural weaknesses inside firms. According to industry data, the real source of late payments isn’t macroeconomic stress but internal process failures. Disorganized workflows add nearly $300 billion in drag to the construction industry each year, while subcontractors increasingly file liens to mitigate risk. General contractors spend more than 60 hours per month managing payments—time they could devote to coordinating work and reducing on-site risk. But the momentum for change in the construction industry is growing. Seventy-six percent of contractors are willing to offer discounts for guaranteed faster payments. Eighty-two percent are open to digital systems that accelerate cash flow. Government-led modernization—from federal adoption of instant rails to new state-level penalties for late payments—is pushing the construction industry toward faster, more predictable disbursements. Faster payments won’t fix every challenge, but they can eliminate one of its biggest and most solvable sources of instability.

Insurance once sold peace of mind. Today, peace of mind arrives in milliseconds—or not at all. When policyholders file a claim, they are not benchmarking insurers against other carriers. They are benchmarking them against the rest of their digital lives, where money moves instantly and options are table stakes. If the payout lags, the brand suffers. This urgency is growing as environmental and economic pressures converge. Catastrophic weather events are driving up insurance claim volumes. Policy shopping is reaching record levels, turning retention into a battlefield. At the same time, satisfaction data indicate a systemic breaking point. More than one-third (38%) of auto policyholders now fall into the lowest satisfaction segment. Just 51% of customers with high lifetime value (long tenure, multi-policy, higher premiums) say they “definitely will” renew, making retention of this profitable segment a top industry concern. The industry’s math has changed. Affordable coverage attracts buyers; fast claims keep them coming back. Forty-six percent of insurance claimants say payment velocity is their top priority—eclipsing concerns like convenience, choice or security. For catastrophic claims, the stakes are even clearer: 51% of policyholders cited quick payouts as their top priority during severe-weather claims. The technology impact is no longer theoretical—it shows up in the rails insurers choose for payouts. Sixty percent of consumers receiving instant insurance disbursements prefer push-to-credit card, followed by digital wallets at 56% and instant bank deposit at 50%. The signal is clear: Instant disbursement is now infrastructure, not innovation. Equally telling is the customer’s willingness to pay for speed. Nearly one in four consumers receiving payouts between $500 and $1,000 say they would pay fees for instant access—a signal that urgency carries quantifiable value. Insurers that cling to paper checks or slow batch rails aren’t just making payments late. They are affecting loyalty. The industry’s next battle for market share will not be won based on price or policy terms. It will be won in seconds.