The Covid-19 pandemic is putting a toll in the global economy as a whole. The impact of this Coronavirus is already being felt in almost every nation and every industry. Economists say that this Black Swan event has already delivered the fastest and deepest economic shock in the history compared to 2008 global financial crisis. The UN anticipated that this crisis will result in a $1trillion hit to the world economy. Governments are issuing orders to stay inside, some businesses have been badly affected and are even closing their doors, and some people are preparing for a change in the working environment.
This deadly pandemic is changing the way we live our lives, and there are some innovative technologies which are making this transition period much easier. Though businesses are going through a major disruption, it will ultimately be the way these companies embrace technology. In this changing work environment, companies are finally investing in the needed technology to be able to make remote work possible. While employee’s health and safety remains the top priority, Fintech companies need to carefully consider their scale, continuity and scope of their digital operations during these difficult and unfamiliar trading conditions. For instance, in Bahrain, Fintech firms announced that they would introduce new working procedures to ensure the safety of their employees while also delivering the fintech services to the country’s residents. Similarly, in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), more than 37% of the domestic companies are planning to switch to remote work. As such, interactions between humans will be limited.
This corona crisis is likely to lead to a further boost around digitalization. Fintech companies are traditionally fast adopters- from the adoption of paperless and cashless approaches to implementing new software and cloud-based systems, as well as remote working capabilities. Fintech solutions providers are used to make the transactions more convenient. Without breaking the rules of self-isolation, people can pretty much order any service online and make transactions such as paying bills with only a click on their mobile phones. At a time when the governments are recommending to limit physical contact, the trend towards cashless and digital payments are likely to be positively affected. In countries like China and India, authorities have urged the citizens to use digital payments instead of cash to avoid the spread of the virus.
According to Jim Marous, co-publisher of The Financial Brand, said that the growing desire of consumers for digital banking services will force many traditional financial incumbents to fast-track digital innovation efforts. As a result, many banks and credit unions will need fintech assistance in bringing better digital banking solutions. As per Forbes report, more than 120 fintech firms extended free, discounter or accelerated deployment offers to banking institutions. As such, banks will continue to serve their clients through this difficult phase.
The current situation is forcing almost all companies that have not dealt with the issue of digitalisation to follow suit as quick as possible in order to avoid losing their connection to competition as well as not to lose their economic footing.
Partnering to NanoBNK
NanoBNK, our fintech company is offering its services and solutions to help during this Covid-19 Pandemic in delivering Digital Transformation and omnichannel presence through its Digital Banking solutions: Internet Banking, Mobile Banking, Bill Payment, Agency Banking and Digital Payments.
