Ripple’s global head of banking says the coronavirus pandemic is highlighting the need for a more efficient international payments infrastructure.
In a new post at Bobsguide, Marjan Delatinne says the global money transfer market is primed to be revolutionized by new tech like automation, machine learning and digital assets.
To date, the remittance market has lagged behind other parts of the payments processing industry and has been slow to adapt to the modern world, according to Delatinne. But that, she says, is beginning to change.
“In the last five years, the payments industry has seen greater change and disruption than it has in the previous 30. For instance, in the UK and elsewhere in Europe, card payments have now overtaken cash for the first time ever, and in light of coronavirus, the contactless transaction limit is being raised to support a decline in willingness to physically carry paper money.”
Delatinne says increasingly automated invoicing and settlements options are replacing the need for slow bookkeeping, ramping up settlement times and helping companies keep accurate balance sheets.
But when it comes to cross-border payments, Delatinne says advancements have largely remained the same since the 1970s, with financial institutions utilizing a correspondent banking model that requires numerous transactions and high fees.
Delatinne says the industry and consumers are now hungry for change. With e-commerce giants such as Amazon serving emerging markets like Latin America, Africa and Southeast Asia, Delatinne highlights a growing demand for disruptive payments technology.
“Now, as coronavirus simultaneously increases market uncertainty but requires more from payment providers to support customers’ demands, it’s never been more important to focus on robustness and reliability of services – the world quite literally depends on this.”