The biggest story in the news at the moment is of course the coronavirus pandemic and its impact and implications, not just nationally but on a global basis.
Since the last issue of MarketEye, the world has become a different place and when we get through this undoubtedly it will have changed.
Already the virus has made an impact on not just the national and global economic markets but also the payments industry.
The World Health Organisation has advised consumers to avoid handling bank notes and instead switch to contactless payments to deter the spread of coronavirus.
Many retailers have started to refuse cash in an attempt to limit its spread.
UK Finance has announced that the spending limit for contactless card payments will be increased from £30 to £45, with a national roll-out beginning from 1 April 2020.
The decision to raise the limit was taken following consultation between the retail sector and the finance and payments industry. It follows similar increases in several other countries over the past week including Netherlands, Germany, Norway, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Poland and Turkey.
The changes were apparently already under consideration, but have been brought forward as part of the industry’s response to the coronavirus outbreak to support consumers who choose to pay using contactless at this time.
Irish bank AIB says that in light of the coronavirus outbreak it is suspending its recently announced plan to introduce transaction charges for contactless payments.
This is not an easy time for anyone. Savantor wishes all our MarketEye readers and their families good health during this difficult time.
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"We were in urgent need of external independent expertise to supplement our internal resources. Senior consultants had to quickly integrate with our team and actively contribute. Their experts quickly forged strong working relationships and delivered to our brief. We enjoyed working with them to develop our future platform strategy."
Evert R Fekkes, SVP - Payment & Savings Services - Rabobank Nederland
"Savantor did a good job in helping us understand the dynamics of a key growth area for Trionis. Savantor's ability to listen and their degree of commitment have always impressed me. They have been of great help in providing us important market insights and I would not hesitate to work with them again in future."
Ernst Verbeek, Managing Director - Trionis - Belgium
"Execution at its best. We're delighted that this project has been truly outstanding and received an award from 'The Banker'. Savantor provided crucial expertise that helped us keep all our promises in terms of delivery. The scheduling, planning and control regime throughout was excellent."
Chris Mason, Director - Commercial Cards EMEA - Citi - UK
"Savantor's support in our platform selection process has enabled us to sustain our profitability and positioning for the future. Their advice and guidance was essential to our decision-making."
Robert Lambert, Head of Cards Strategy - Permanent tsb bank - Ireland
"The bank has undergone significant transformation of its card business on both the issuing and acquiring sides. One business partner we have looked to for support in the areas of strategy, major project leadership, management analysis and ongoing business support is Savantor. The Savantor team has contributed to our success as we have leveraged their deep industry knowledge and broad range of operational skills."
Sean Sheehan, Service Management Director - Bank of Ireland
"The expertise provided by Savantor has greatly helped us evaluate our risk position and to take the right steps in managing our future risks. Strong, disciplined planning and an ongoing willingness to work closely with our staff played an enormous part in making this a very successful well-delivered project which will greatly help us in achieving our business goals."
Mark Healy, Chief Risk Officer - NEOVIA Financial - UK
"We needed expert help at short notice and Savantor were very impressive in their response and knowledge. The results were very clear and useful, enabling us to quickly make good progress on the next steps."
Sami Karhunen, Head of Business Intelligence and SME Sales - Point Transaction Systems Oy - Finland
"This was a major business transformation that required us to build an excellent team made up of internal bank specialists, supported by external card business, technical and operations expertise. Savantor provided specialists from the local market and with international experience to fill a variety of important roles. The Savantor resourcing team are professional, reliable and good people to work with."
Ricardo Gomez, Director - Operations & Technology - WiZink Bank - Spain
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