POS and Retail

Money transfer agent Remitly has launched a cash deposit service for its digital bank account holders on the Green Dot retailer network.

The coronavirus shutdowns have tossed businesses into disarray in numerous ways, most notably the tricky transactions that come with operating a restaurant as a drive-through for the first time.

Unlike past economic recessions where businesses and consumers have had to adjust their payment habits and debt levels over the course of months or quarters as the economy shrank, the coronavirus-induced economic crisis has forced many to make much more abrupt financial adjustments.

As many countries and U.S. states now begin to lift stay-at-home orders, fraudsters too are being unleashed to return to familiar targets such as bank branches, ATMs and retail stores.

The coronavirus pandemic has had an immediate impact on a wide swath of consumer spending habits and payment choices — some of which may remain in place for some time after the crisis subsides — as certain categories such as travel have fallen to the wayside and others such as grocery stores have risen as more consumers eat meals at home.

U.K. retail sales dropped in April by the most in at least a quarter of a century, according to industry figures that outline the impact of the shutdown on stores.

Even before the coronavirus outbreak, cybercriminals were shifting their attention away from point-of-sale terminals — but the retail industry still absorbs the most attacks seeking to compromise databases or networks.

When Fiserv purchased First Data in 2019, it was part of an industrywide push to combine bank and merchant technology under one roof. A year later, a key piece of First Data’s technology — and its top executive — have become Fiserv’s path through the coronavirus crisis.

The businesses that are open now are providing clues for payment hardware makers on how the retail landscape will look once the pandemic clears.

With the coronavirus pandemic forcing far more e-commerce transactions — and thus, more spending on cards instead of cash — loyalty and rewards are vital to creating lasting consumer habits.