In February 2026, scholars from several disciplines gathered at the University of Lucerne to discuss digital payment infrastructures, data, and the future of money.
Bringing Payment Research Together
From February 4–6, 2026, we hosted the workshop “Platforming Digital Payments: Infrastructures, Data Assets, and Future Imaginaries” at the University of Lucerne. The event marked the closing phase of our SNSF research project Digital Payments – Making Payments Personal and Social.
The workshop brought together scholars researching digital payments from a variety of perspectives, including sociology, media and communication studies, political science, economics, and history. Together, we explored how digital payment systems are reshaping economic infrastructures, social relations, and everyday financial practices.
Discussing New Research on Payment Infrastructures
The workshop was organized around the discussion of pre-circulated paper drafts. This format allowed participants to engage deeply with each other’s work and to provide detailed feedback.
The papers addressed topics such as the platformization of payment infrastructures, the role of transaction data, the relationship between payment systems and consumption, and the imaginaries shaping the future of money. The discussions highlighted how payment technologies increasingly function as socio-technical infrastructures that organize markets, generate data, and influence economic behavior.
Building a Research Network on Digital Payments
Beyond the paper discussions, the workshop provided an opportunity to strengthen connections within the growing international research community studying payments and payment infrastructures.
The lively discussions and informal exchanges confirmed the importance of building a network across disciplines to better understand how digital payments are transforming economic life. We are grateful to all participants for their stimulating contributions and for helping to make the workshop such a productive and inspiring event.