Digital payments

The U.S. Treasury is talking to digital payments providers about quick ways to disburse funds to recipients of stimulus checks within a couple of weeks, but payments industry experts foresee troubling security issues even with most of the obvious options.

Mastercard has increased the contactless payment limit to CA$250 across Canada to provide consumers with a safer way to pay during the coronavirus pandemic.

Admitting it "may be professional suicide" to take the reins in the midst of a global health crisis, Brady Harris says his role atop Dwolla's management chain will be "a real test of my leadership abilities."

Transit systems are suffering a dramatic loss in ridership, and must find a way to welcome back riders after the coronavirus pandemic ends, since many commuters will have canceled their monthly passes.

Canada’s small businesses have lagged behind the U.S. in adopting digital commerce for a variety of reasons, but coronavirus might send things in a new direction.

For a growing number of people, the coronavirus has disrupted their daily lives in how they work, where they eat and how they spend their money. This drastic change has caused a boom in some sectors of the economy and a bust in other areas.

Growing recognition that coronavirus can survive on hard surfaces for up to 72 hours — making it riskier to use PIN pads and touchscreens at the point of sale — is causing merchants around the world to rethink payment technology, especially at supermarkets.

Even for companies that support remote work, having an entire staff working from home on short notice opens new complications for B2B payments and accounts receivable.

It’s a rare occurrence for a business to receive a huge business spike while also shutting parts of the operation, but that’s where the coronavirus has landed Farmstead.

With coronavirus taking a significant chunk out of physical retail and services, the use of call centers and phone interaction with customers becomes even more important.

Cash use will suffer because of this outbreak, and there are factors other than germs contributing to this trend. A growing work-from-home workforce will funnel more shoppers into digital channels, including ones they may have never tried before.

Amazon's dominance of the smart speaker segment makes it well positioned to turn an increasingly work-from-home culture into a voice-shopping powerhouse.

Contactless cards are a potential refuge for consumers who fear plastic and cash are carrying COVID-19.

The global efforts to contain the coronavirus outbreak are leading to drastic actions that test the limits of what consumers will accept when governments and other entities use their payment data.

Coronavirus, also called Covid-19, is wreaking havoc on the stock market, with a heightened effect on the travel industry. It could also cause a drastic change in payment habits, as consumers shift to digital channels to reduce their risk of infection from handling cash.

With the world gripped in panic over the rapid spread of the coronavirus — and the stock market falling in response — payments companies have been left to speculate on what it all means to their operations in an increasingly global economy.

It’s an odd, and unwelcome, test of new retail technology that allows consumers to shop with minimal interaction with others.