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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"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
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Sean Sheehan, Service Management Director - Bank of Ireland
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Michael Liquornik, Executive Vice President - Neovia Financial - UK
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Lars Bostrom, Head of Cards - Nordea - Scandinavia
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Toine Schepers, Operations Director - Primeline - The Netherlands
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Evert R Fekkes, SVP Payment & Savings Services - Rabobank - Nederland
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Sami Karhunen, Head of Business Intelligence and SME Sales - Point Transaction Systems Oy - Finland
"Savantor successfully assisted Clear2Pay by providing specialist EMV expertise."
Marie Costers, General Manager - Clear2Pay Open Test Solutions
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