John Adams

History will remember Wednesday for the anti-democracy domestic terrorism that resulted in death, injuries and damage inside the U.S. Capitol — but did not thwart the process of confirming the presidential election. It was also a day that Georgia's Senate runoff gave much-needed clarity to the fintech sector.

The Trump administration's cantankerous relationship with China has lasted the president's entire term, often shaking up the payments and financial services landscape. With a new executive order, Trump has announced bans on more than a half dozen software firms — including payment apps affiliated with Tencent and Alibaba/Ant Group.

Several government agencies have made deeper moves into crypto oversight, leaving a trail of angry executives and unresolved political questions. And there's still no sign of a central bank digital currency, leaving the U.S. at risk of falling behind other countries in the race to support faster payment processing.

"The construction industry has been challenged by the pace of evolution and is still dominated by invoice and check payments," said Michael Praeger, CEO and co-founder of AvidXchange.

The final outcome of the November election will be decided on Jan. 5 in Georgia, with the balance of power in the Senate at stake, as well as at least two years of financial services and technology policy.

Rapidly spreading coronavirus and an unclear Brexit outcome are bearing down on the U.K., leaving the fate of London as a technology and finance hub in the air as 2020 draws to a close.

Even with the pandemic's dramatic shift to online commerce, TIAA Bank's Claudia Tabacinic says there's still room to migrate consumers, and lingering reluctance to embrace new technology.

The interior of a car or truck is a fintech frontier — one that is undergoing a trial by fire during the pandemic, including as a point of sale venue for small merchants.

Ultimately, whatever options banks and fintechs deliver for this next phase of the pandemic must appease not only the merchants but their customers as well.

Two large deals happened this week in Australia to build scale against international financial services encroachment from card schemes and cross-border financial services — a concern that's cropping up in several nations.