There was a 60% quarter-over-quarter (QoQ) surge in influencer discussions on Cards and Payments during the first half (H1) of 2020 as social distancing and lockdown measures due to COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the use of digital financial services and contactless payments, according to GlobalData, a leading data, and analytics company.
An analysis of GlobalData’s Cards and Payments Influencer Platform, which tracks industry experts and their discussions pertaining to the emerging trends, insights and overviews, new fields of innovation and technology, and other popular areas on Twitter, has revealed ‘relief for customers’ as the most discussed theme among cards and payments industry experts.
To counter the adverse effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, governments across the globe announced measures, such as ordering banks to postpone or freeze the loan/EMI payments, to provide immediate relief to the borrowers who are facing difficulties in repayment due to their pay cuts and job loss.
Prashant Saxena, an Influencer Expert at GlobalData, says: “The ongoing COVID-19 crisis has become one of the biggest threats to the global economy. However, it is evident that social distancing and lockdown are accelerating the use of digital financial services and driving the demand for contactless payment technologies.
“As consumers are increasingly looking to avoid exposing themselves to disease vectors such as cash and point of sale (POS) terminals, the use of contactless payments, which once struggled to catch on, are now witnessing growth. Several retailers are also encouraging customers to use contactless payment methods to curb the spread of COVID-19. However, this may impact people who are still reliant on cash for day-to-day spending.”
Against this backdrop, ‘contactless payments’ have emerged as a popular theme among experts. As a result, payment providers such as Paytm recorded 4X growth in transactions on their platform with significant growth in user signups. Google is also developing its own physical and virtual debit card, which will allow users to buy with a card, mobile phone, or online.
However, a new wave of ‘cybercrimes’ have emerged focussing on mobile banking, e-commerce, and other digital transactions. Fraudsters are using strategic phishing campaigns to lure unsuspecting victims into disclosing personal information with the primary goal to capture banking credentials to access victims’ funds.
Saxena concludes: “The sudden surge in demand for contactless payments, digital cash transfers, online banking can be dangerous for ill-informed users or businesses as cyber-criminals have found this pandemic as a huge opportunity to con them. Therefore, it is the time to be extra cautious with fake emails, websites, which are created to steal user’s details.”
