Mobile Payments Fights Back Against Coronavirus
So when you get an open letter from the president of Money 20/20—whose upcoming show is still, at last report, upcoming as of this August in Asia, September in Europe and October in the US—you get to thinking a few key things. Especially when that letter starts out with “Yes, people are locked in their homes. Yes, there is a global pandemic. Yes, the economy is in freefall. But already FinTech has stepped up and is fighting back.” But what is fintech—financial technology—doing in the coronavirus fight?
Several such new technologies have recently come into play. The open letter sent our way from Money 20/20 noted such things as “open banking solutions enabling the self-employed to prove their annual salaries”, as well as “digital payment technologies accelerating the move towards a cashless and cleaner society” along with “advanced encryption and decentralized platforms for transparency and privacy of medical data sharing.”
All of these are certainly worthwhile advances, and Money 20/20 is putting out the call for more. In fact, they’ve even set up an email address and a web portal to allow other developers to send out their own stories of fighting back against the coronavirus. Money 20/20, based on the letter sent our way, plans to take these stories and hawk them like no tomorrow, putting out the word to everyone who comes in contact with the group.
Indeed, fintech has made a lot possible in this time frame, from improved online shopping to better ways to telecommute and get paid for doing so. The fact that Money 20/20 is calling attention to these developments really shouldn’t surprise anyone, though just what we’ll see come out of this initiative might. Hopefully we’ll hear more about these developments fairly soon; though the travel restrictions are likely to be lifted in a matter of weeks here, the impact of these developments will have value long after we’ve gone back to any kind of semblance of normal.
Mobile payments tools were valuable before COVID-19, and they’ll be valuable long after the coronavirus has faded into the background. Their impact on a changing world can’t be underestimated, and Money 20/20’s push to call attention to these development should ultimately prove valuable.