Forecasts anticipate that digital wallets will account for more than 50% of e-commerce transaction value globally by 2025, representing a seismic jump from its 40% market share back in 2021. 

This growth rate is expected to continue accelerating, with Ryan O’Holleran, Head of Sales, Enterprise at Airwallex suggesting that 60% of the worldwide population will use digital wallets by as soon as 2026. 

The transition away from cash has been aided by the evolution of digital wallet technology and the versatility of fintech tools. Digital wallets have the ability to electronically store your payment information and passwords of your favorite payment methods. They can be run on smartphones and other devices and allow you to make payments without having to carry any cash or have your credit card to hand. 

Because they’re digital, they’re capable of storing a range of important transaction information, helping digital wallets store flight tickets, hotel reservations, event tickets, gift cards, membership cards, loyalty cards, ID, cryptocurrency, car keys, and even your driver’s license in some jurisdictions. 

Evidence suggests that we’re not only adopting digital wallets but using them to make high volumes of payments. In fact, digital transactions were estimated to have climbed to $929.8 billion in 2024. 

It’s not every day that investors can witness a new dominant technology take charge of age-old processes play out on Wall Street, but the emergence of digital wallets is opening the door to investment opportunities at scale with fintech firms thriving on strong innovation pipelines. 

With this in mind, let’s take a look at three digital wallet stocks that could be best positioned to rally off the back of reaching market dominance in 2025:

1. PayPal (PYPL)

As one of the world’s most renowned fintechs, it’s difficult to ignore the market strength of PayPal (NASDAQ: PYPL). The stock suffered heavy losses during the tech stock sell-offs of 2022, but posted growth of 44.48% in 2024 to show that PYPL is well on its way to mounting a recovery. 

PayPal’s key strength in the digital wallets market place is its existing user base, and with monthly active accounts climbing 2% year over year to 223 million in the new year, the payments platform has a sizeable volume of customers with significant lifetime value. 

The fintech giant’s strong user base means that the company has a strong foundation to build its innovation pipeline, and with regular rollouts of new tools and a flurry of fresh strategic partnerships, it’s clear that PayPal isn’t interested in sitting still. 

September 2024 saw PayPal and e-commerce leader Shopify expand their partnership to boost online transactions throughout the platform via a streamlined Shopify Payments platform, helping PYPL to strengthen its access to Shopify’s 700 million customers worldwide. 

Already in 2025, we’ve seen PayPal’s Hyperwallet service expand payout access for merchants across the Asia-Pacific region. February this year also brought the announcement of a three-year collaboration with UAE-based global technology and investment group, e&. 

This emphasis on global expansion could put PayPal in good stead to outperform its benchmarks in a year that’s been full of surprises for US markets so far. 

2. Apple (AAPL)

There’s no brighter star in the digital wallet landscape today than Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL). With an estimated 640 million people worldwide using Apple Pay in 2024, and forecasts suggesting that figures could surpass 700 million by 2027, Apple has built a massive customer base thanks to its seamless integration with the widely used iPhone. 

2024 saw Apple grow 41%, and the stock is trading close to its all-time high. With a market market capitalization of $3.66 trillion, AAPL is the largest stock in the world. However, this underlines the firm’s commitment to constant growth, and there’s no reason why Apple won’t be the first stock to cross the $4 trillion barrier in the months ahead. 

In recent months, we’ve seen more fintech firms utilize Apple Pay as a means of making services like BNPL and flexible payments more accessible. In the United Kingdom, Monzo recently became the first bank to offer Apple Pay Monthly Payments to help users stagger their payments over time. Affirm also integrated with Apple Pay in the US to boost their BNPL services. 

3. Block (XYZ)

When it comes to the fintech stocks with the highest potential, Block (NYSE: XYZ) is a sure-fire bet to be at the top of many investor portfolios. 

Like PayPal, the stock is adrift from its highs recorded in 2021, but still managed to post growth of 33% in 2024. 

Block’s CEO, Jack Dorsey has earned a reputation as a tech innovator, and Block’s Cash App could have what it takes to become the world’s favorite digital wallet in the future. 

Cash App has already gathered 57 million users, but its the potential of uniting with Block’s Afterpay BNPL platform that could really take Cash App to new heights in the fintech landscape. 

With the app serving as a great way of onboarding customers and introducing them to Block’s more cutting edge fintech services, Cash App will decide Block’s long-term growth. With the firm’s bottom line pointing to Q3 earnings of $2.25 billion, up 19% from a year ago, there’s plenty of evidence to suggest that Block’s trajectory is already looking bright. 

Embracing the Fintech Boom

With digital wallets set to become the dominant form of payment online in 2025, Wall Street is awash with opportunities in innovative fintech stocks. 

Although many stocks still trail their 2021 peak values, the digital transformation that the sector is experiencing means that there can be some great long-term hold options for fintech’s brightest players. 

While it’s difficult to see the future of an industry that has plenty of competition stemming from innovative startups, it seems that key battles will be won and lost with the rollout and growth of digital wallets.