Adoption of Existing Payment Technology Accelerated

COVID-19 has had a massive effect on the world’s economy, leading to a drastic decrease in spending and changing the way consumers pay for goods and services. This impact on businesses today can be seen particularly in commerce where there has been a sharp increase in touchless transactions and companies undergoing rapid digital transformation or promoting new technologies to ensure a safe and secure check-out for their clients.

Not only have businesses shifted but many consumers have also adapted to this new way of making purchases out of necessity, and many have been supported to make the digital transition. For example, in some regions people from low income groups of the economy have been provided with free computers; similarly, younger generations have helped educate older members of their families on how to access and utilize the power of technology.

Accelerated Adoption of Technologies by Merchants

COVID-19 is not leading to the development of new technologies but rather a much faster and more widespread adoption of technologies – like contactless and mobile payments – that already existed. Certain technologies are seeing increased relevance because of the pandemic, and this trend will last well beyond the current period of the crisis.

According to PaymentsJournal.com, the use cases for existing technologies that will see an acceleration in relevance fall into one of two categories:

1. The New Normal Technologies

In the first category, are those technologies that directly address the needs of the ‘new normal’. These include digital currencies, digital contracts, mobile solutions, 3D printing, Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality (AR/VR), and communication tools to support remote working and collaboration.

In terms of payments, the Internet of Things (IoT) will be an enabler of autonomous zero-contact payments and the pay-as-you-use charging models. Methods of authentication that do not require any physical contact such as NFC, voice, iris or facial recognition will also become more valuable.

2. Technologies that Enable Business Resilience

In the second category, are those technologies that enable business resilience through agility. They include Cloud and micro services, Big Data, API first architectures, chatbots and voicebots, and communication infrastructure that meets the connectivity requirements for increased secure online transactions.

What’s Next for Businesses?

Merchants who have adapted out of necessity during the crisis, will now be seeking to prepare and plan for the next steps on how they can harness technologies in new and valuable ways in the post-COVID-19 world.

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