Digital payments are moving faster than ever, and Mastercard Inc. (MA) says we've got a serious problem: security can't keep up. Speaking at the Benzinga Fintech Day & Awards 2025, Jelena Hoffart, Director of Identity Value Chain Expansion at Mastercard, delivered a stark warning about where the industry stands today.

"We've already enabled bots to make payments, but we don't have the coordinating infrastructure to control them. We're flying without a plane," she said.

The Real-Time Payments Trap

Think about how payments work now. You tap a button on PayPal Holdings Inc. (PYPL) or Block Inc.'s (XYZ) Cash App, and money moves instantly. Consumers expect that speed. The problem? The infrastructure to verify who's actually moving that money hasn't caught up.

"While we can kind of move money in real time… we do not have the infrastructure to verify consumers — let alone agents — in real time," Hoffart explained.

That timing gap is dangerous. If you can move money instantly but verification takes longer, you've created a window for fraud. Now add AI-powered bots into the mix — bots that can initiate payments, handle logins, and file disputes on their own — and that window gets a lot bigger.

The Bot Problem Nobody's Solved

As AI agents start conducting financial activity autonomously, the challenge shifts. It's not just about verifying humans anymore. "We have to go from a world where we're not only understanding who the human is… but making sure the bot's not co-opted," Hoffart said.

For investors, this is more than a security concern. It's a growth bottleneck. Fintech's next wave depends on identity systems that can keep pace with AI automation. The companies that crack real-time verification and proof of humanness could own the next chapter of digital payments.

Right now, the infrastructure just isn't there. And until it is, the industry is essentially flying blind.