7 Best Fintech Stocks to Buy as Digital Payment Volume Surges

In this article, we will take a look at the 7 Best Fintech Stocks to Buy as Digital Payment Volume Surges.

In today’s turbulent global economic landscape, having instant access to money, regardless of location or currency, is more crucial than ever. Payment processors hold a significant market share in processing transactions across their networks, providing early insights into consumer purchasing trends.

The growing usage of smartphones and internet apps has fueled the need for increased convenience. ACI Worldwide estimates that real-time transactions account for around 26% of global digital payments, up from 4% in 2016. Much of the development is being driven by emerging economies, notably India and Brazil, where officials supported the deployment of UPI in 2016 and Pix in 2020, respectively.

Despite fears about economic uncertainty stemming from the war in Iran and US-imposed tariffs, spending has remained relatively stable, even as consumer confidence has dipped amid a volatile labor market. This was demonstrated by leading fintech companies such as Visa reporting strong first-quarter results. Speaking on this, Michael Ashley Schulman, Partner of Cerity Partners, said the following:

“If you were hoping for ⁠a recessionary tell, the payment processors did not get the memo.”

Across the waters in Europe, things are taking another direction. On June 23, the European Central Bank received legislative support for the introduction of a digital euro. This electronic payment system aims to reduce the eurozone’s reliance on US credit cards during periods of strained transatlantic ties.

Following six years of development, the ECB’s digital currency has gained more attention since President Donald Trump took office, raising fears of weaponized tariffs, even against trade partners.

Our Methodology

We used stock screeners to identify stocks related to financial technology and/or digital payments with a short float of less than 10%. We limited our final selection to companies that have recently reported noteworthy developments likely to impact investor sentiment. The list is ranked in descending order of short float.

Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Insider Monkey’s quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 599.2% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 372 percentage points (see more details here).

7. Remitly Global Inc. (NASDAQ:RELY)

Short % of Float: 8.90%

Remitly Global Inc. (NASDAQ:RELY) ranks among the best fintech stocks to buy as digital payments volume surges. On June 26, Cantor Fitzgerald restated its Overweight rating and $28 price target for Remitly Global Inc.. According to the firm, Remitly’s core remittance operation is creating additional growth opportunities.

Based on Cantor’s assessment, the core operations continue to generate significant revenue growth, free cash flow, and improved GAAP profitability. This gives Remitly Global Inc. additional time and resources to broaden its product offerings and monetize its user base through complementary solutions, such as high-value senders, Send Now/Pay Later, and Remitly Business.

Cantor Fitzgerald stated that these initiatives will be based on Remitly’s current infrastructure, cost base, and client connections instead of marketing to new customers.

Furthermore, on June 4, Citizens maintained its Market Outperform rating and $26 price target for Remitly Global Inc.. The firm stated that the loss of an early-stage investor does not impact its opinion of the company, which it sees as a long-term winner in the digital remittance market.

Remitly Global Inc. provides financial services, specifically cross-border remittance services, globally. The company is based in Seattle, Washington, and was founded in October 2018 by Matthew B. Oppenheimer and Joshua Hug.

6. PayPal Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)

Short % of Float: 6.17%

PayPal Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) ranks among the best fintech stocks to buy as digital payments volume surges. On June 1, Freedom Broker reduced its price target for PayPal Holdings Inc. to $60 from $100 while retaining a Buy rating on the stock. Freedom Broker analyst Mikhail Paramonov referred to the company’s first-quarter fiscal 2026 results, which were largely in line with estimates.

PayPal Holdings Inc. posted revenue of $8.35 billion, up 7% year-over-year, alongside a non-GAAP EPS of $1.34, up 1% year-over-year. The earnings and revenue numbers exceeded estimates by 5% and 4%, respectively.

The company’s user base stayed somewhat steady, with 439 million active accounts, up 1% year-over-year, while monthly active accounts totaled 225 million. Transaction volume also came in solid, with 6.48 billion payment transactions handled during the quarter, a 7% increase over the previous year.

In addition, Tencent Financial Technology announced on May 27 that US PayPal users can now use WeChat Pay’s QR-code network to make payments at businesses throughout China. According to the announcement, the service connects Tencent’s cross-border payment platform TenPay Global to PayPal World.

PayPal Holdings Inc. operates a technology platform that enables businesses and customers worldwide to send and receive digital payments. The company offers payment solutions under the names PayPal Credit, Hyperwallet, Venmo, PayPal, Xoom, Honey, Braintree, and Paidy.

5. Block Inc. (NYSE:XYZ)

Short % of Float: 3.89%

Block Inc. (NYSE:XYZ) ranks among the best fintech stocks to buy as digital payments volume surges. On June 23, TD Cowen reiterated its Buy rating and $101 price target for Block Inc.. The firm’s evaluation came after investor discussions with Block in Montreal and during the TD Cowen 2026 US Corporate Access Day in Toronto.

TD Cowen highlighted that Block’s product velocity is increasing, and the company’s structural reset is yielding real outcomes. According to the firm, AI is transforming how Block Inc. operates, and Neighborhoods has the potential to serve as a crucial bridge between Square and Cash.

Furthermore, on June 17, Block Inc. announced the release of Builderbot, an AI management tool that coordinates numerous AI agents throughout the company’s codebase and operates within Slack to streamline software development tasks. The application performs over 200,000 operations each day and combines around 1,500 pull requests every week, accounting for roughly 15% of all production code changes throughout Block Inc..

Block Inc., founded in 2009 by Jack Dorsey, is an American financial services company. It offers point-of-sale systems and credit solutions to merchants through its Square subsidiary. It offers peer-to-peer payment, banking, and Bitcoin trading through its Cash App platform.

4. Fiserv Inc. (NASDAQ:FISV)

Short % of Float: 2.86%

Fiserv Inc. (NASDAQ:FISV) ranks among the best fintech stocks to buy as digital payments volume surges. On June 16, Goldman Sachs analyst Will Nance reiterated a Hold rating on Fiserv Inc. with a price objective of $70. The abrupt CEO shift, with Mike Lyons resigning and Takis Georgakopoulos taking over, adds uncertainty, especially for the banking-focused financial solutions division, just as management is expected to produce stronger revenue growth in the latter half of the year.

That said, Nance recognizes Georgakopoulos’ extensive payments experience and sees that Fiserv Inc. has begun to solve challenges in financial solutions through improved service, focused hiring, and strategic acquisitions.

In a similar vein, Bernstein maintained a Hold rating on Fiserv Inc. and set a price objective of $76. According to the firm, Takis Georgakopoulos’ hiring as CEO provides some consistency, particularly in Merchant Solutions and the broader One Fiserv plan, where he already demonstrated early improvements in customer satisfaction and shifting plans for Fiserv/Clover in SMB surveys.

Fiserv Inc. offers fintech solutions, such as account processing, digital commerce, fraud prevention, and payments, to segments such as financial institutions and merchants.

3. MercadoLibre Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI)

Short % of Float: 2.00%

MercadoLibre Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) ranks among the best fintech stocks to buy as digital payments volume surges. On June 9, Bank of America Securities reaffirmed its Buy rating on MercadoLibre Inc., citing significant long-term returns from the company’s credit card operations, despite near-term margin pressures due to active spending across several business lines.

During the first quarter of 2026, the LATAM e-commerce giant more than doubled its credit card portfolio year-over-year, hitting $6.6 billion, or around 45% of MercadoLibre’s whole loan book. Meanwhile, credit card monthly active users increased by 68%, surpassing the 29% growth in Mercado Pago’s overall monthly active users.

According to BofA analyst Robert E. Ford Aguilar, MercadoLibre Inc. only had 3.4% of industry credit card balances in Brazil and 2.5% in Mexico as of March 2026, despite the company’s quick growth. Based on the analyst’s estimate, the credit card segment would approach breakeven in 2028 after reporting an EBIT loss of $443 million in 2026, which would represent a 1.1 percentage-point drag on consolidated margin.

MercadoLibre Inc. is an internet retail company that primarily operates Mercado Libre Marketplace, an online commerce platform, and Mercado Pago, a fintech platform.

2. Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)

Short % of Float: 1.28%

Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) ranks among the best fintech stocks to buy as digital payments volume surges. On June 30, Piper Sandler began coverage of Visa Inc. with an Overweight rating and a $394 price target. The firm initiated a review of the payments and consumer finance division (which includes Visa) with a “selectively constructive” outlook. According to Piper Sandler, Overweight-rated equities provide “durable” network utilization, consumer engagement, credit management, capital returns, business leverage, or earnings “scaling into share appreciation without requiring broad multiple expansion.”

Piper Sandler also noted that although projected earnings “remain resilient across much of our coverage,” valuation adjustment in the category “has been broad.”

Furthermore, on June 25, Visa Inc. introduced Visa Destinations, a mobile travel platform currently available in 10 cities, including Paris, London, and Dubai.

The platform gives Visa cardholders access to customized travel experiences, tour guides, and suggestions in the food, entertainment, cultural, hospitality, wellness, shopping, and transportation areas.

Visa Inc. is a payment technology company operating in the United States and internationally. It operates VisaNet, a transaction-processing network that handles the clearing, authorization, and settlement of payments. The company offers its services under various brands, including PLUS, Visa, V PAY, Visa Electron, and Interlink.

1. Mastercard Inc. (NYSE:MA)

Short % of Float: 0.82%

Mastercard Inc. (NYSE:MA) ranks among the best fintech stocks to buy as digital payments volume surges. On June 25, UBS reiterated its Buy rating on Mastercard Inc. and set a price objective of $640 for the company’s shares. The rating followed the firm’s hosting of Mastercard Inc executives for three days of investor meetings.

The meetings involved discussions around agentic commerce, namely Agent Pay for Machines, the purchase of BVNK, value-added services and products, international travel, net revenue growth, MDL-1720, and the competitive landscape and portfolio successes.

The talks, according to UBS, complemented earlier disclosures while boosting optimism regarding Mastercard’s medium-to-longer-term growth forecast and resilience.

According to UBS’s reverse discounted cash flow analysis, MA’s current share price implies a net revenue compound annual growth rate of about 4% from 2031 to 2040, which the firm believes will be significantly lower than what the firm will achieve.

Meanwhile, as previously noted, on June 10, Mastercard Inc launched Agent Pay for Machines, a new service that will enable regulated, coordinated, and machine-speed transactions over its global payments network.

Mastercard Inc operates in the payments industry and is one of the leading payment processors for everyday consumers, financial institutions, governments, and businesses. The company is headquartered in New York, United States.

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