COVID-19 Dominates Digital Payments; Stripe Invests in Fast: News Roundup
PaymentFacilitator’s News Roundup is a curated mix of the past week’s news and articles from around the web, including company announcements, global payments news, and other coverage and analysis of topics relevant to payment facilitators.
COVID-19 Impact
The fitness industry is rallying. Gyms and studios are working hard to transition from in-person classes as the virus shuts down their facilities. Skyrocketing demand for online offerings is changing their business models, with help from platforms like ClassPass and Mindbody. From Welltodo.
Online shopping up in Brazil. Unsurprisingly, Brazilians who are staying at home to avoid spreading the coronavirus are doing more shopping online, according to a study from Compre & Confie in conjunction with the Brazilian E-Commerce Association. The study reported an 80% increase in supermarket shopping from the previous year, and an 111% increase in health product purchases. From MENAFN.
Endorsements for digital payments continue to pile up in light of the coronavirus outbreak. Among the latest to suggest that consumers go cashless are:
- The National Bank of Kazakhstan, which is recommending cashless payments to reduce human-to-human contact, noting that the risk of catching the virus from banknotes themselves is low. From Kazakh TV.
- “Banking and digital currency experts” in Myanmar. These experts advised consumers to be careful handling cash. From The Myanmar Times.
- Sri Lanka’s banking and financial services industry. A collective effort is underway to board merchants onto digital platforms without requiring them to visit a bank. From Daily Mirror.
- Amazon, which has stopped accepting cash-on-delivery as a payment method in India to minimize contact between delivery staff and consumers. It also announced it would stop delivering non-essential items. From The Tech Portal.
Startup Funding
Stripe invests in Fast. A startup called Fast recently announced a $20 million investment from Stripe. Fast is building a universal login and checkout platform that will enable consumers to sign in to and make purchases through a single service. The funding round comes just a few months after the company’s seed round in November. From TechCrunch.
QR Code Support
QR code platform supports long-term societal vision in Qatar. The Qatar Central Bank is the latest to embrace the potential for QR codes to help increase financial inclusion and grow electronic transactions. The bank recently released specifications for an interoperable, national system called the Qatar Mobile Payment System. The platform will support retail as well as peer-to-peer payments, transportation and withdrawals from mobile wallets. From Mobile World Live.
Industry news
LegitScript: How to Spot Donation Scams Related to COVID-19
Wirecard: COVID-19: Wirecard Launches “Innovation for Now” Initiative Together with Other Leading Companies and Strengthens its Offerings for Affected Businesses
Blackbaud: Blackbaud Announces New Measures to Support Customers and Global Community in Response to COVID-19 Pandemic
Toast: Toast Announces Rally for Restaurants to Support Foodservice Community During COVID-19 Health Crisis
BlueSnap: Astound Commerce and BlueSnap Launch New Salesforce Commerce Cloud Payment Solution
PatientPay: PatientPay Oversubscribes $6M Funding Round
RoadSync: RoadSync Secures $5.7M Series A Led by Base10 Partners
Adyen: Adyen to Publish COVID-19 Trading Update on April 21
NPCI: NPCI urges India to use digital payments to reduce social contact and contain Covid-19 outbreak
PAR Technology: Area Businesses Pledge $94,850 to Support Local Restaurants in “Take Out the Virus” Campaign
Fattmerchant: To Further Support Small Businesses, Fattmerchant Adds Virtual Gift Card Offering Through Partnership with Gift Up!
PAR Technology: PAR Technology Introduces PARk it™: A Digital Contactless Ordering Solution for Restaurants
Shift4 Payments: Shift4 Payments Launches Shift4Cares.com To Raise Over $200 Million for Small Businesses and Highlight Economic Impact of COVID-19
Payroc: Payroc’s Free Marketing Services Help SMBs Fight for Survival
Grab: Grab Announces Additional COVID-19 Support Measures
Paytm: We Have Revamped Paytm UI with Home Essential Payments and COVID-19 Information Centre
Paytm: We Seek Your Support as We Aim to Contribute ₹500 crores to PM CARES Fund
Shopify: Shopify Capital Expands to the U.K. to Provide Immediate Relief to Merchants