Merchant

The path away from cash and plastic was well underway before the pandemic, and will deeping during the crisis and beyond, says Paysafe's Daniel Kornitzer.

Payments are slow, fees continue to increase, and merchants are increasingly feeling the pressure from holdbacks being imposed on them by acquirers. In the pandemic crisis, that's unacceptable, argues Nuapay's Nick Raper.

Think about all the people who started depositing their paper checks through a mobile app. Who tried that out and then thought, “Gee, I really preferred driving 15 minutes to the bank and waiting in a line”?

PSD2 and FIDO are among the efforts that could ease adoption for consumer use, says Fingerprints' Jonas Andersson.

By embracing this new payment market and its associated technologies now, convenience stores will attract more customers, improving their bottom line while also preparing for the future, writes DigitalMint's Marc Grens.

For the payments companies that have and will continue to support businesses during our current phase of survival and necessity, these partnerships forged in the fires of adversity will lead to strengthened relationships and long-term loyalty during the growth phase that is yet to come, writes Wirecard's Kevin Brown.

Many companies have yet to take advantage of automation when it comes to testing their payment channels, a commonly overlooked but vitally important area, says Paragon Application Systems’ Steve Gilde.

As the market deals with the short-term challenge of getting stimulus payments into the hands of citizens, the country has a unique opportunity to put the unbanked and underbanked on a long-term path to electronic payment methods, Jim Johnson of FIS says.

As the market deals with the short-term challenge of getting trillions of dollars of relief and stimulus payments into the hands of citizens in the coming weeks and months, we as a country have a unique opportunity to put our unbanked and underbanked citizens on a long-term path to electronic payment methods, says FIS' Jim Johnson.

While the primary focus for most credit card providers in March was on emphasizing fee forgiveness and payment deferral support, moving forward issuers need to focus on a mix of strategies to retain their cardholders' share of spend, says The Futurist Group's Demitry Estrin.

As Amazon and e-commerce companies in parallel broadened their adoption rates, they further trained consumers to expect a frictionless and speedy checkout process, says Grubbrr's Bhavin Asher.

The benefits of virtual payment cards go beyond replacing physical cards and eliminating social contacts. Payment vendors that manage these virtual cards can also create branded cards and portals for companies, says Berkeley Payments' Jonathan Hamburg.

There is no doubt that many restaurants and merchants are struggling right now. But it makes no sense to hurt consumers and financial institutions by expanding failed policies like the Durbin Amendment, argues Jeff Tassey, chairman of the board for the Electronic Payments Coalition.

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.

The coronavirus e-commerce push is likely to be permanent as consumers get used to digital payments, but that also gives rise to new fraud threats.

With the EMV liability shift date for automated fuel dispensers (AFD) looming, subject to any last-minute changes, we are seeing major changes at fuel sites across the USA. With close to 150,000 active fuel sites in the U.S. alone, there are a huge number of individual pumps that will need to be upgraded to accept chip and PIN cards.

As retailers search for ways to reduce shoppers’ exposure to coronavirus, smaller merchants are reaping some unexpected improvements in checkout speed and convenience.

The coronavirus has caused millions of people to self isolate, leading Starling Bank to offer a connected debit card for people shopping on behalf of a family member or friend.

While reports of toilet paper and hand-sanitizer shortages may be common stories on the nightly news, one consumer goods category is flying off the shelves at an even faster pace, one never seen before – guns and ammunition, increasing payments volume for gun shops, a merchant category financial service providers traditionally avoid.

Cash and digital payments don’t have to be mutually exclusive; this is not a zero-sum game as the two payment options can exist together, says PPRO's Steve Villegas.