E-commerce sales boomed during the height of the coronavirus when consumers were stuck at home, and merchants had no choice but to accommodate the surge. But some retail industry observers are concerned about potential long-term costs from the pandemic.

Traditional U.K. businesses found innovative ways to serve their customers under coronavirus restrictions. Iconic London black taxi cabs, independent local community pharmacies, old-fashioned pubs, and QSRs have turned to in-app mobile payments to enable their businesses to carry on.

Even though a portion of retailers could rely on e-commerce to keep active during coronavirus shutdowns, reopening brick-and-mortar shops may be even harder amid new safety concerns.

The coronavirus’ economic fallout has drawn more attention to buy-now-pay-later options, leading to fresh creativity in business models and marketing.

In response to fraudsters seeking to capitalize on the COVID-19 influenced surge in e-commerce, Ekata has launched a new global digital ID verification tool to combat cybercrime.

Given American Express was reporting a 95% hit to one of its core businesses less than two months ago, announcing access to the world’s largest digital payments market has to be a major sigh of relief — even if there’s still entrenched competitors, an international virus and a cold war to navigate.

For Starbucks, the pandemic’s emergency workarounds are also a proving ground for a retail concept that could change the way people visit quick-serve restaurants.

Latin America is seeing a surge in digital wallet adoption as governments seek ways to disburse coronavirus aid to vulnerable citizens, and consumers look for safe alternatives to cash.

Inaccurate payments have plagued accounts payable and receivable departments from the time suppliers' contracts and invoices were stored in boxes and file drawers to the dawn of data-driven digital transactions.

The push for a public option to digitize government payments has gotten stronger, and the discussion has moved on from whether it should happen to how it should happen.

Arizent, the parent company of PaymentsSource, has released a broad industry survey on both the impact of the crisis and emerging responses. The survey found the pandemic has forced many companies to implement new or modified business continuity plans, appoint executive response teams and invest in new technologies to enable a remote workforce. The pandemic is also expected to lead to a greater investment in technologies that reduce the reliance on face-to-face interactions for both coworkers and clients.

The immediate lockdown of the nation’s economy in response to attempts to flatten the coronavirus infection curve has had a widespread impact on the revenues of all businesses, particularly small ones that are more susceptible to economic disruptions.

The global coronavirus outbreak has up-ended daily life for many consumers, including where they shop and how they pay for things. The U.K. is no exception, as issues of health and hygiene have now been introduced as important factors when it comes to both planned and impulse shopping.

The modern mobile wallet no longer uses a card as a crutch. Instead, it sees it as an additional product that can add revenue from interchange, lending and loyalty.

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.

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.

There is one area of commerce that has experienced an uneven consumer response to the coronavirus crisis: subscriptions. Some companies have benefited greatly while others have not.

Ever since people started sheltering at home to limit the spread of coronavirus, payments industry experts have wondered how this would affect the use of cash and cards.

Fintechs in the payments industry saw problems coming when the CARES Act’s SBA Paycheck Protection Program opened the floodgates for millions of coronavirus-stricken small businesses to apply for loans.

During a time of business lockdowns and layoffs amid the general population attempting to stay healthy during the coronavirus crisis, one thing is quickly bubbling to the surface of the minds of consumers, small-business owners, banks and regulators: The state of the credit card market, and where it could go from here.

Imagine you're a CEO on your first day on the job — and it's the early days of the coronavirus crisis. That was the situation Brady Harris found himself in when he took the top job at Dwolla, a payment company that we have covered for many years.

Avivah Litan, vice president and distinguished analyst at Gartner, explains the evolving role blockchain has taken during the coronavirus pandemic. Blockchain, originally developed for use with bitcoin, provides a way to bring trust and order to the chaos of the current crisis, but it's no silver bullet.

The payments industry is in a unique position during the coronavirus crisis: It is a lifeline for many businesses, but it is also facing its own upheaval as habits and needs drastically change.

While the entire economy will slow due to stay-in-place orders and temporary economic shutdowns, payments fintech is expected to fare much better than other investment sectors due to these trends.

Suneera Madhani, CEO of the digital acquirer Fattmerchant, tells PaymentsSource how the coronavirus pandemic has affected how her employees go to market with new payments technology — and how making the shift to digital helps both the acquirer and its clients.