Cash

The upcoming U.S. election could move the cannabis industry closer to the mainstream, but legal dispensaries will still have to deal with workarounds to accept card or mobile payments.

Cross-border payments provider dLocal is offering its technology platform for Spotify users in Latin America, enabling alternative payment methods for underbanked Spotify Premium customers purchasing digital music.

Transfiya, a blockchain-based funds transfer system, is transforming payments in Colombia for the benefit of underbanked and financially excluded consumers.

The trend toward payments that limit contact will continue beyond COVID-19, says EMVco.'s Brian Byrne.

All parts of the payments industry can preserve cash, but mandates may be necessary, says Moorwand's Luc Geuriane.

Close collaboration between leading payment innovators and regulators could help regulators better understand the direction the industry is headed, says Arkose Labs' Vanita Pandey.

Several months after the pandemic took hold, Diebold Nixdorf and NCR have adopted an ATM recovery strategy that stresses contactless access as well as innovations that are similar to other industries that traditionally rely on kiosks.

Close collaboration between leading payment innovators and regulators could help regulators better understand the direction the industry is headed, says Arkose Labs' Vanita Pandey.

Various efforts to limit cash were in motion well before the global health crisis, but merchant and consumer digital money habits being built during the pandemic will carry on for many years, thus leaving cash sidelined in many purchasing scenarios.

The 2020 election has tossed the U.S. Postal Service under extreme scrutiny, pressuring the institution at a time when it has become a potential catalyst for financial inclusion.