Do you know how you'll be paying for your groceries in five years? What about in twenty years? By that time, the ways that we pay for goods and services could be completely different than current methods.

We can't predict the future of payments, or what role cryptocurrencies will play in that future. We don't know if cash will be long gone in a matter of years, or if credit and debit cards will take new forms. But these industry insiders have lent us their educated opinions on these matters, and others.

Here's what they have to say:

1. Michael Diamond, GM & SVP of Digital Banking at Mitek

“The large participants will exert pressure to slow down innovation. Example: the banks entering into the P2P fray to protect their role in money transfers between individuals, the card networks instituting standards and barriers to keep the transactions flowing over their networks, and the largest US banks (owners of the organization proposing RTP) fighting with all of the smaller banks and the Federal Reserve.”

2. Maryanne Morrow, the founder & CEO of 9th Gear Technologies

“Of all the new technologies that have been in development over the past decade; AI, Machine Learning and blockchain, it has become abundantly clear that blockchain is the most effective way to streamline a payments system. Most currently utilized technologies were developed in the 1970’s and 1980’s, and payment processors have been working to make them more efficient since then. But blockchain is a completely new way to consider the issue and solve for a much more efficient process.”

3. Preston Thornton, Vice President, Product Management at Inlet

“Distributed ledger technology (DLT) has the potential to significantly impact the payment industry. It blurs the lines between banking, technology, currency, and commerce. Imagine a world where your Facebook becomes your bank account. It authenticates you for payment transactions, and it is the network facilitating the transfer of value. Well, that world isn’t just science fiction; Facebook is already making moves in that direction. The jury is still out on whether or not banks and payment networks will fully embrace this technology. One thing’s for certain, they will need to have a strategy in place to be prepared for it.”

4. Charlie Youakim, CEO of Sezzle

“People are already becoming more accustomed to leaving cash behind, but as we look into the future, the cashless economy will become the norm. Technology continues to advance on a daily basis and become further integrated into our everyday lives. Just smart phones have become the center of modern communication, the U.S. will follow other countries like Australia and Brazil in making it the primary mechanism for payments as well.”

5. Joe Proto, CEO and Chairman at Transactis

“Artificial Intelligence has the potential to transform both consumer and business payments. With AI, the opportunity exists to make payments both faster and smarter. Consumers will seamlessly use AI in our everyday lives for payments and shopping especially with open banking API’s in the future. Businesses will use AI for accounts payables and accounts receivables also utilizing API’s to integrate dollars and data for straight through processing.”

6. Monica Eaton-Cardone, co-founder and COO of Chargebacks911

“I’ve talked before about the significance of JP Morgan Chase rolling out their own digital token, the JPM Coin. If banks are going to embrace blockchain payments, it’s helpful to have a token to exchange value between parties within the system. They were the first institution to take this step, but I highly doubt they’ll be the last. Several other banks already agreed to partner with JP Morgan Chase on their blockchain system; if it’s a success, I can see many more getting on board, or building out their own blockchain platform.”

7. Kevin Lee, Trust and Safety Architect at Sift

“There isn’t a single technology that will have the biggest impact but rather any technology that will improve the consumer experience by either making the payments process disappear or by creating a more interactive experience. For example, practicing Trust & Safety and using machine learning technologies to identify and allow for quality online transactions that historically might have been turned away for fear of fraudulent activity, without increasing fraud loss. As contactless checkout become more the norm and expectation of consumers, these technologies – like Tap to Pay, QR code scan, etc. – will create the biggest impact.”

8. Bill Wardwell, VP Strategy and Business Development, Bottomline Technologies

“While not new, API technology is easing collaboration between banks and FINTECHs, allowing the creation of new payment models that have the ability to tackle yet unsolved business payment challenges. Technologies such as AI and machine learning, now allowing technology providers to harness the power of power of data, will help automate laborious tasks, predict payment fraud, and deliver smarter and more personalized payment experiences.”

9. Rasha Katabi, founder and CEO of Brim Financial

“Mobile is currently driving many branches to close, but there is still a demand for human connection. Banks that are handling this change well are leveraging the massive amounts of data now at their disposal. They’re transitioning to a model where the mobile device is the main conduit for transactions, information gathering, and personalized experiences. A mobile-first strategy means financial institutions can reduce their operational costs and present enhancements and new features immediately to the customers. With mobile as the main platform, they can coordinate messages either to specific customers or large segments. They’ll also gain access to rich user data, which they can analyze and then adjust the applications to create a better customer experience and also identify new potential revenue sources.”

10. Sanja Kon, VP, Global Partnerships at UTRUST

“Cryptocurrencies will play a dominant role in payments in the coming years. This is still a nascent market, but research data indicates that both cryptocurrency users and transaction volumes of crypto payments are growing in double digits. The ownership of cryptocurrency is concentrated in young and educated people, with nearly half of the millennial population stating that they prefer cryptocurrency over cash.”

11. Jared Weitz, founder and CEO of United Capital Source

“Online bank protection software and technology improvements are driving more and more consumers towards online and mobile payments. With an increase in trust of security and protection, consumers will be comfortable with this financial management transition.”

12. David Nachman, CEO of FastSpring

“Converting international shoppers requires frictionless shopping experiences that make it easy for customers to identify the digital product or software they are searching for and allows them to seamlessly purchase these items. To capture cross-border shoppers, online businesses must ensure ecommerce platforms have the capabilities to accept multiple currencies and global payment methods, display pricing that accurately matches a user’s geolocation, stay compliant on global tax complexities and cultivate seamless customer experience during the checkout process.”

13. Alexey Ermakov, CEO and founder Aximetria

“Digital currencies are the future of money and payments. They will become the common payment method for all types of payments (everyday payments, cross-border remittance, corporate transactions) across all business domains. Regular consumer payments will be done with QR-codes, and all deals will be P2P and without intermediaries. Crypto transfers will totally disrupt cross-boarder remittance. Corporates and businesses will follow the digital money trend more and more actively.”

14. Ruslan Gavrilyuk, Co-Founder, President of TeqAtlas

“Today, fiat money along with credit and debit cards cannot be completely replaced by some revolutionary means of exchange for obvious reasons. However, society is actively moving towards it. Many service providers offer cryptocurrency payment gateway integration into retailers PoS terminals or web pages. The number of stores and businesses that accept bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies is growing. According to coinmap.org, there are two times more venues accepting crypto worldwide since 2016 with 15,052 venues in July 2019. Stores that accept bitcoins or other cryptocurrencies pay up to 1% processing fees since they only face initial integration payment and 0.5% – 1% fee per transaction.”

15. Yoav Dror, CEO of PumaPay

“Blockchain technology is having the biggest impact on the payment industry

and across other industries beyond just financial services. It removes the reliance on a trusted third party to maintain a central ledger. Blockchain technology has the potential to transform business performance offering faster transaction times, huge costs savings and immutability.”

16. Ryan Frere, VP Global Payments, Flywire

“Increased Bank-FinTech Collaboration. Despite all the talk of fintechs disrupting banks, the reality is they depend on one another far more than they compete. This is especially true in payments and it will only increase going forward. Fintechs rely on banks for their global networks and regulatory infrastructure, and banks rely on fintechs to provide more modern capabilities and experiences, including “white-labeling” their payment offerings. This keeps banks in the driver’s seat with customers while offering newer, more convenient services. At the same time, the smaller fintechs will benefit from increased volume and reach that would otherwise be impossible.”

17. Andres Ricaurte, Senior Vice President and Global Head of Payments at Mphasis