U.K.

At the start of 2020, the overriding security concern when it came to payments was fraud. After all, before the days of the global coronavirus pandemic, no one had really viewed hygiene as being a particular selling point.

Barclays has experienced an incremental £264 million (about $330 million) in contactless spend in the month since it raised its per-transaction limit in response to the coronavirus pandemic, which has created an aversion to cash and contact payments.

The payments landscape for U.K. farmers has long been fraught with inefficiencies at the best of times, particularly when it comes to the government’s processing of financial support payments. Now, with coronavirus wreaking havoc with administrative departments, farmers across the land are bearing the brunt of the crisis.

Due to the U.K.’s coronavirus lockdown, many British people are socially isolated in their homes, and rely on friends to get their groceries for them. They face the problem of how to reimburse people for their expenses, since cash is no longer acceptable.

PayPal subsidiary iZettle is working with U.K. urban delivery platform Stuart to offer small businesses remote payment and delivery services during the coronavirus crisis.

For Good Causes has emerged from pilot in the U.K. to help consumers and businesses convert loyalty rewards points to digital cash donations for charities impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.

The U.K.’s growing panic about the spread of coronavirus has created an open season for fraudsters, with government agencies and cybersecurity companies reporting unprecedented levels of criminal activity since the virus began sweeping across the globe in January.

Payments gateway and financial crime compliance technology provider Pelican is partnering with Banking Labs to serve banks and corporations in Canada.

The firms say they can't handle crushing loan demand from small and medium-sized businesses.

U.K. supermarkets which have been experimenting with mobile scan-pay-go may see more consumers adopting the technology due to social distancing requirements in stores.

U.K. consumers scaled back their unsecured borrowing in February as the country battled flooding and the start of the coronavirus outbreak.

The gig economy flourished in part for its ability to get timely payments to workers. Uber and Lyft, for example, offer express payments to drivers who need to use those funds to refill their gas tanks before picking up the next rider. But these payment innovations mean very little when there isn't sufficient money flowing into the system.

The coronavirus pandemic has forced foreign exchange money agent Travelex to close all of its U.K. offices for the next eight weeks.

While the global coronavirus outbreak may be grounding corporate travel to a near standstill, leading travel companies and fintechs are continuing to hone AI-based payments platforms to reduce the problem of corporate travel fraud.

The nationwide lockdown in Italy has necessitated changes for Pellegrino personally, and for his business. The two worlds often intersect.

Following the lead of open banking regulation in Europe, payments technology provider Elavon is working with Nuapay in the U.K. to provide account-to-account payment setups for its merchant clients.

Mastercard's U.K. Pay by Bank service has been slow to get off the ground since its 2016 launch. But Mastercard predicts Pay by Bank will see significant adoption in 2020 due to the partnerships it has established with banks and processors, and the popularity of mobile banking among Britons.

The U.K. is the latest market where eBay will assume direct control of its payments experience, as part of its prolonged breakup with PayPal.

The U.K.’s Co-operative Group is creating a new model for online grocery shopping by using its network of convenience stores as local distribution centers.

The Bank of England issued a new polymer £20 note into general circulation at a time when consumers are increasingly eschewing cash in favor of digital payments.