45% of UK adults are comfortable leaving the house without a wallet or payment card because they know they can use a digital wallet, such as Apple Pay or Google Pay, to pay. For retail CX leaders, that opens up enormous opportunity. This is especially relevant for younger and digital-native consumers, who are more likely to use mobile wallets and embedded finance options than Baby Boomers. With the right integration, the payment becomes the loyalty moment. The checkout becomes the emotional touch point. Retailers need payment platforms that can flex across channels — from POS terminals to mobile to ecommerce. They need partners that understand not just authorization and settlement but UX and data flows. And they need solutions that are built with regulation in mind — from PCI compliance to fraud risk and SCA (Strong Customer Authentication). At Lloyds Merchant Services, our work with leading retail partners focuses on exactly that: helping merchants simplify the complexity behind the scenes so they can unlock moments of magic with customers out front. From integrating with top wallet providers to deploying embedded lending solutions like FlexPay, we’re seeing firsthand how retail CX is transforming at checkout — and how brands that get this right are outperforming their peers on conversion, retention and engagement.