The Prospects of Retail Payment Developments in the Metaverse

In the age of technological development, rapid technological progress, and the metaverse development in which humans interact with each other and with the environment using virtual real-world metaphors, payment systems may also need to be re-considered. The study aims to find an answer to the question of what should be retail payments in the metaverse and to begin interdisciplinary discussions about their implementation in this environment. The author reviews the literature which shows that i) socio-economic relations are being implemented in the metaverse, but they still require the money to participate in the exchange relationships, as well as to support such a system; ii) it is impossible to abandon all forms of physical exchange, which is the basis of modern society; iii) the metaverse is an environment usually of anonymous users, who do not have the right to make significant purchases without their identification; iv) accounting of transactions remains the basis of payments in the metaverse as well.