EMEA

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.