How 15 Pivotal Events Impacted the Digital Economy in 2024

There are 52 Mondays in a year. For the last 15 of those years, I have published a piece of content on as many of those Mondays as I could. My all-time record was 56. This year I clocked in at 15.

My writings in 2024 focused on fewer topics — those with deeper purpose and broader implications for payments and the digital economy. Issues that have the potential to fundamentally change the who, the how and the what of commerce as digital transformation becomes less of a boardroom talking point and more of the strategic DNA of every business.

Many of the issues that inspired my writings will persist as we wave goodbye to 2024 and say hello to 2025. Regulation, the consumer and business credit economy, the embeddedness of everything, working capital and cash flow, GenAI, the impact of changing demographics on every facet of the digital and physical economy, the role of Big Tech and Big Retail in how and where commerce happens — all seem so familiar and so well-trodden. Yet the nuance and context, often overlooked or underappreciated, truly are the essence of the story.

Knowing both is where I think you’ll find clues about how the next act of payments will unfold. And gain a deeper understanding of the new dynamics that will create value — and monetize it — in the new year.

So, those are the insights that I aim to bring to forward, one Monday at a time, and tried to in 2024. To start conversations, to offer a different point of view from the “traditional” mainstream way of thinking. Provocative by design. Data- and insight-driven at the core. Inspired by the many conversations that I had in 2024 with many of the most innovative people who touch payments, commerce and the digital economy — some 198 in all.

As we start the countdown to the five years that will end this extraordinary decade-in-the-making, I can’t promise that I’ll break my all-time Monday writing record in 2025 — but I’ll promise to get closer!

Thank you for reading and commenting. Wishing you the happiest, most joyous and most inspiring new year.