The Payments Industry Was Ready

“Sustained business success is dependent on business readiness to adapt to the changes in the market conditions, including the evolving needs of customers.”

Most people are utterly stunned and surprised by sudden disruptions like COVID-19. Others know that pandemics and crises come and go. The most resilient companies are always future-proofing. “If nothing else, this crisis reinforces that the future is and always will be uncertain,” said Amir Wain, founder and CEO of i2c. “By making agility a core competence and using an agile infrastructure, you’ll be ready for whatever the future brings — including the next pandemic.”

The following is an excerpt from How 35 Execs Are Powering The Great Digital Shift Of 2020 (And Beyond), contributed by Amir Wain, founder and CEO of i2c.

As most businesses and industries have struggled over the past 12 weeks, the payments industry was ready with the necessary infrastructure, products and services to support the digital shift.

What has changed is the demand for certain payment types above others. The physical limitations of shelter in place have redefined how businesses and consumers make payments. Volumes have shifted to eCommerce, mobile wallets and contactless payment solutions and accelerated the trend away from plastic or cash.

I would also argue that what has happened in the past three months is no different from what we see with every market shift, except for the pace at which it has happened. It normally takes years for trends to become the “new normal.” COVID-19 has dramatically sped up this timeline.

Sustained business success is dependent on business readiness to adapt to the changes in the market conditions, including the evolving needs of customers. In this particular case, businesses that were not prepared for the shift to digital and eCommerce are vulnerable.

Financial institutions (FIs), which have yet to update legacy systems and are unable to respond quickly to change, are suffering. Just as important as the need for traditional FIs to adapt their systems to the new digital reality is the need for FinTechs, with their high customer acquisition costs, to leverage partners with best-of-breed commerce/payments infrastructure building blocks that will afford their solutions the security, breadth of service, compliance and global reach of the larger FIs.

If nothing else, this crisis reinforces that the future is and always will be uncertain. By making agility a core competence and using an agile infrastructure, you’ll be ready for whatever the future brings — including the next pandemic.