Has digitization put the bank branch and cash on the extinction list? Not while consumers still demand them. To prosper today and in the future, banks will need to snatch the opportunities digital transformation offers them. Digitization is not a threat but a promise for better customer service that meets consumers where they are.
Digital payments promise greater convenience and efficiency with lower cost but also carry substantial potential risk to the economy at large. The long-term success of this innovation will depend on the development of a top-down, holistic regulatory framework to securely govern digital payments, maximizing benefits while minimizing risks.
The COVID-19 pandemic has driven a step-change across the European payments industry. We’ve seen an acceleration of cashless payments across markets where cash has historically been dominant. And an exponential increase in e-commerce activity as consumers were forced to stay at home during national lockdowns
Technology has soared during the COVID crisis, but the outlook for fintech funding has been mixed, as investors prioritized surety, especially during the pandemic’s early days. Although fintech funding experienced a pronounced drop during the first half of 2020 across VC, PE and M&A, it has recovered impressively, auguring well for 2021.
By necessity, COVID has upped the pace of technological change in the financial services industry. However, there is a longer-term goal to revolutionise the way individuals and businesses manage money day-to-day. As digitisation booms, every player in this sector is determined to innovate.
The introduction of a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) is taking concrete shape in more and more countries economic and currency areas. The European Central Bank (ECB) is currently evaluating the specifications of a digital Euro, Sweden recently extended the test phase for its own CBDC and in China,
Some regulators have initiated innovative payment solutions, while others lag behind. The traditional view that sustainability can be left to market forces is faltering, as our developing payment landscape leaves millions behind, raising concerns about the impacts of cashless societies. The remedy: an efficient, inclusive payment model.
As a host of industry initiatives, innovative technologies and new digital forms of currency emerge, payments are rapidly evolving—with multiple routes emerging that each look likely to lead to a payment destination that is instant, 24/7/365 and fully transparent. With banks seeking to navigate this changing landscape, how is this payment destination being secured? Not with a one-size-fits-all remedy, but through a combination of developing technologies and solutions.
Many of us are now familiar with the concept of software as a service (SaaS)—that is, the licensing and delivery model that enables users to subscribe to use-specific programmes and applications over the internet rather than having to buy them outright and install them on their computers.
A recent report by Access to Cash has suggested that cash transactions could fall to just 10% of all payments within the next 15 years. This is not very surprising given thatlast year, debit cards officially overtook notes and coins as the UK’s most popular form of payment.