In this article I thought I’d explore the world of payments and the recent activities aimed at tackling the Covid-19 crisis. I’m not focussing on the pre-existing technologies and products that can be deployed to help, but rather the actions and decisions taken since the outbreak of the pandemic. I’m sure that I have captured only a small subset of what is being done, but it gives a flavour of the way that the payments world is reacting to fight Covid-19.

Avoiding the use of Cash

EIS Group announced the launch of an intelligent digital insurance ecosystem initiative in collaboration with PwC. The new ecosystem will combine agility with insights to enable market differentiation and deliver best-in-class customer experience. This will allow insurance companies taking a greenfield approach to get closer to their customers and better understand their needs as people, rather than policy numbers.

 Mobile device and app security leader Trustonic has extended its partnership with LG Electronics Mobile Communications Company, which will see Trustonic Secured Platform (TSP™) deployed on LG’s smartphones.

Tech talent specialist, mthree, has appointed Justin de Ferry as head of client services, to cover its global operations.

Justin has more than 20 years experience in recruitment and executive search, working in both London and New York during his career, where he founded and established Boundary Talent International, before joining mthree.

MuchBetter, the award-winning payments company, has today announced a partnership with TrustPay to develop innovative bank transfer solutions. The collaboration will give MuchBetter the ability to seamlessly combine electronic wallets with conventional banking flows. This will allow customers to create individual, single-purpose IBANs within the MuchBetter ewallet, enabling outbound and inbound payment flows to designated recipients.

Curve, the banking platform that consolidates multiple cards and accounts into one smart card and app, now allows customers to move past payments onto a different card for up to 90 days after the payment has been made.

More than half (57 percent) of UK IT decision makers still believe that remote workers will expose their organisation to the risk of a data breach, according to an annual survey – conducted between 25 and 27 March 2020 – commissioned by Apricorn, the leading manufacturer of software-free, 256-bit AES XTS hardware-encrypted USB drives. This figure has inclined steadily from 44 percent in 2018 and 50 percent in 2019.

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the multinational body charged with setting the global approach to fighting money laundering and terrorist financing, has backed a call by leading Regtech firm SmartSearch for businesses to employ digital customer onboarding processes.

LHV, the financial and payment services provider, is pleased to welcome London-based money transfer company TransferGo as its latest client. LHV will provide TransferGo, which is one of the world’s fastest growing money transfer companies, with payment infrastructure, providing access to real time Euro and Sterling payments via Single Euro Payment Area (‘SEPA’) Instant and Faster Payments schemes respectively.
 

New data published by open banking platform Tink reveals that financial institutions in the UK are embracing the open banking opportunity more readily than their European counterparts. The survey, based on 290 senior decision makers at financial institutions in 12 European countries, found that three quarters (74%) of UK financial institutions today say they are positive about open banking, compared to a European average of 61%.