Payments are changing. People are increasingly abandoning physical cash in favour of digital transactions. In the UK, which is one of the more cash-heavy countries in Europe, cash payments only made up 17% of all payments in 2020, down from 70% in 2010.
The pandemic has only accelerated this trend by changing consumer behaviour for good and so did the nature of payments.
In this issue of Electronic Payments International we are putting the spotlight on fintech and investigate several of the key trends in the market that we believe will only become more important in 2022.
Starting with online shopping, the coronavirus health crisis saw more people discover the benefits of using buy-now-pay-later services that empowered them to slice up their payments. Klarna, the Swedish quadradecacorn that picked up a $45.6bn valuation this summer, has come out as the biggest name in the sector.
However, enabling users to pay with instalments is only the beginning. As Alex Marsh, Klarna’s UK head, tells us in this issue, the fintech is looking to take control of people’s entire shopping experience – from discovery to payment. Now, it aims to expand its European banking services to the UK, hinting what may be in store for the rest of the BNPL industry.
The growing importance of the online shopping space is also apparent in a budding feud between Amazon and Visa. In November, the ecommerce giant announced it would ban the payments provider’s credit cards from being used on its UK platform. Amazon claims Visa hiking its prices has created a bad situation for its shoppers. This scrap between the two powerhouses is set to come to a head in January unless they can find a compromise.
We also investigate how the pandemic has affected the innovators among the payment technology startups, check in with Meta to see what’s going on with Facebook’s delayed cryptocurrency and what Beijing’s ongoing tech crackdown means for China’s fintech sector.
This as well as the regular in-depth analysis, news and features on the latest trends in the payments sector is what you’ve got to look forward to in the latest issue of Electronic Payments International.
Lastly, we want to thank all our subscribers and wish you a Happy New Year.
Eric Johansson,
Guest Editor