Erik Torenberg, Alex Rampell, and Max Levchin trace 25 years of payments innovation, from the durability of card networks and the origins of PayPal to Affirm’s early experiments with identity, trust, and credit. They explain how installment financing found product-market fit by increasing merchant conversion, why negative customer acquisition cost and long-term lending create strategic advantages, and why even small payment niches can become enormous businesses. The discussion closes with a cautious but optimistic view of agentic payments: AI may be better at transforming checkout than deciding what people should buy.