COVID-19 May Push Japan to Ecommerce; Indians Turning to PF Paytm, Other Apps to Pay for Essentials: 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.
Will the coronavirus outbreak be what finally pushes Japanese shoppers online? In a country that notoriously lags behind other developed markets in ecommerce growth (only 7% of transactions in 2018 were online), consumers may be finally turning to the web to do their shopping. Retailers have been voluntarily shutting down or cutting their hours, leading to a 63% drop in retail traffic from last month. From Bloomberg.
Payments companies in India taking a hit. Overall, digital payments in India are down, even though individual verticals such as groceries, education and online content have seen an increase in payment volume. Payment companies are questioning whether the coronavirus will have a lasting impact on consumer behavior, driving more transactions online. From livemint.
Indians report turning more to digital payments. Paytm and Google Pay top the list of payment apps being used by consumers in India, according to a recent survey. 42% of the respondents said they had increased their use of digital payments, mostly to pay for essentials. Consumers are also opting for contactless delivery mechanisms. From The Financial Express.
Visa, Mastercard evaluating fee changes. After announcing that they would delay their planned interchange updates until the summer because of the coronavirus, the card brands are weighing their next moves. At a time when retail is struggling – and likely will be for some time because of the economic impact of the virus – an increase in fees could be hard to justify. From Business Insider.
Industry News
Juniper Research: Digital Commerce Spend to Fall by 14% in 2020, As Industry is Rocked by Coronavirus Impact
Blackbaud: Technology Proves Mission Critical as Food Banks Deal with COVID-19 Crisis
Grab: 12,000 Students to Benefit from CDC Student Meals Scheme
Shopify: Shopify Launches New Email Product Globally, Making It Easier to Reach Customers During COVID-19
PPRO: Retailers Risk Losing 44% of UK Customers if They Don’t Offer Preferred Payment Methods
ACI Worldwide: ACI Worldwide Introduces New “Delay My Payment” Capability to Help Address Bill Payment Challenges for Billers and Consumers Throughout Crisis
I3 Verticals: i3 Verticals Education and HundredX® Work to Help Schools Feed Children During Pandemic
Blackbaud: Blackbaud Releases Virtual Small Group Capability to Serve Churches During COVID-19
LegitScript: LegitScript Waives Some Fees for Telehealth Certification
ETA: Small Business Owners See Expanded Use of Contactless, Some Increases in Sales During COVID-19