Online payments

A shift to online payments and digital technology across the globe occurred at warp speed during the coronavirus pandemic, but that trend doesn't magically solve payments challenges in various markets, nor does it render the fundamentals of customer service less meaningful.

PayPal has launched a new buy now, pay later (BNPL) product in the U.K. called “Pay in 3” to take on rivals Afterpay, Klarna and others ahead of the winter holiday shopping season.

Bank bill-payment sites have become less relevant over the last decade as more people go to billers’ websites to pay directly or use billers' mobile apps — often at the last minute. But the COVID-19 pandemic could flip the script on the $4.6 trillion bill-payment sector.

Bank bill-payment sites have become less relevant over the last decade as more people go to billers’ websites to pay directly or use billers' mobile apps — often at the last minute. But the COVID-19 pandemic could flip the script on the $4.6 trillion bill-payment sector.

COVID-19 has accelerated changes in payments behavior that would otherwise have taken years to occur, laying the foundation for global expansion post-pandemic. But for different parts of the world, this digital transformation had very different outcomes.

The pandemic has upended many business tasks, creating a rush among processors to expand the digital experience without complicating it.

PayPal released a survey of online small and medium-sized merchants that expressed caution about the upcoming holiday season, as 70% do not plan to hire new or rehire furloughed staff.

London-based Rapyd has added Mastercard and Visa acceptance to its European payments platform to help merchants take advantage of retail’s shift to online.

The controversial TikTok U.S. divestiture is inching toward a conclusion, but the battle over how and where data is collected has become a geopolitical barrier to international e-commerce growth that goes far beyond the Chinese video-sharing app.

When the U.K. went into a coronavirus-induced lockdown on March 23 as Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced school, office and retail closures, it caused a ripple effect on the U.K. e-commerce market.