John Adams

While the entire economy will slow due to stay-in-place orders and temporary economic shutdowns, payments fintech is expected to fare much better than other investment sectors due to these trends.

Like other businesses, hospitals have been forced to make instant emergency changes because of the coronavirus. But many hospitals are concurrently getting a rush of demand for service with an unclear revenue stream.

Businesses have turned to workarounds to accommodate the coronavirus’ impact on brick-and-mortar stores, emergency measures that will likely become permanent in order for these businesses to survive into the future.

Google’s reported plan to offer its own version of the Apple Card is less of a play for credit and more of a play for its mobile users' bank accounts.

Fast-moving payments innovation was already threatening comfortable connections between consumers and businesses before the pandemic turned the trend into an outright crisis.

Just as U.S. lawmakers are ramping up demand for a digital dollar, Facebook's Libra project is dialing back its scope.

Payments unicorn Stripe contends it has the financial power to apply its technology to coronavirus medical care, remote telework, business funding, and easier onboarding for companies that have been suddenly thrust into an internet existence.

IT projects are under scrutiny due to the coronavirus, not only in terms of budgets but also how fast firms can deploy automation for tasks such as business payments for companies that have turned to remote work.

Central banks are releasing trillions of dollars to bolster economies through the coronavirus pandemic, giving rise to a pair of trends that could push merchants and consumers to embrace digital currencies as a mainstream payment alternative.

Suneera Madhani, CEO of the digital acquirer Fattmerchant, tells PaymentsSource how the coronavirus pandemic has affected how her employees go to market with new payments technology — and how making the shift to digital helps both the acquirer and its clients.

The $2 trillion coronavirus rescue package and other government moves are designed to provide a lifeline for small businesses, but they also create complications as businesses must quickly accumulate payment records and other information to apply for the loans.

Fintechs, startups and bank-led projects were already working to excise generations of inefficiencies out of supply chains. The coronavirus has heightened the need for smooth payments.

The coronavirus has accelerated a move toward a public option for digital wallets that would tie government authentication to payment transactions. If successful, this could be the catalyst for a national digital identity system.

Alipay expands bank integrations; cross-border payment technology for agritech; and other information you need to start your day, from PaymentsSource and around the web.

The U.S. government will shortly funnel trillions of dollars into the economy to soften the coronavirus’ impact on a variety of industries and small businesses. Payment companies that are also lenders will soon find out if it’s enough to save the market.

Transit systems are suffering a dramatic loss in ridership, and must find a way to welcome back riders after the coronavirus pandemic ends, since many commuters will have canceled their monthly passes.

Payments technology is a relative bright spot as coronavirus’ economic fears hit venture capital, since an emergency can be a catalyst for early-stage innovation designed to ease digital commerce.

The coronavirus stimulus package has resurrected calls for the U.S. government to offer a central bank digital currency, public mobile wallets and postal banking—controversial ideas that are hard to pull off, but exist outside the U.S. and could dent interchange fees and private stablecoin projects like Facebook’s Libra.

The coronavirus is hitting small businesses hard, slamming one of Square’s core markets just as the payments company got a long-awaited industrial banking license.

Even for companies that support remote work, having an entire staff working from home on short notice opens new complications for B2B payments and accounts receivable.