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Education

Silver lining in the COVID-19 cloud

Take the growth in working at home. Once the domain of
the new tech companies, home working has spread slowly
to the rest of industry but never quite getting over the line,
with issues of trust and productivity still unresolved. That
is, until now when necessity forced our hand.

The doom-laden predictions of reduced productivity and
slacking employees were demonstrably unfounded, and
team morale for many organizations has improved. That
could simply be attributed to the relief of not putting
yourself at risk, the increased emphasis we have all placed
on pastoral care and the greater flexibility we have been
given with our daily lives. Nevertheless the trend with the
stats is positive.

Riding the next wave
By Simon Fairbairn Moreover, it has triggered the start of the next wave of
Ingenico Group consideration—why do we have so much expensive real
estate? Many a strategy has considered a shift to a smaller,
t is hard to dismiss the challenges thrown up by the more flexible office footprint built around collaboration
coronavirus pandemic over the last few months, and key events. It won't suit all organizations or
but if you look hard enough, every trial has a silver individuals after the current crisis resolves, but with a
I lining somewhere. For pretty much all markets and, proven operating model and significant cost pressure, it is
in particular, for the payments industry, the old adage of very much on the table, and we will surely see a significant
necessity being the mother of invention has never been shift over the next couple of years.
truer.
On a tech level in the payments industry, the landscape is
Right now, with all the turbulence in both the economic no different. Companies across our sphere have stepped
and social landscape, it would be easy to throw your up to help businesses swiftly mobilize their online
hands in the air, signal defeat and declare that it is all just presence, streamlining processes to remove unnecessary
too hard. bureaucracy in order to deliver as quickly and efficiently
as possible. This in turn has started to create opportunities
However, these are the times when the best of our people that overnight have become new markets demanding
and the best of the companies earn their salt. Taking stock more permanent solutions and a development roadmap of
of what they do, they push back not just responding to their own.
survive but using the challenges as a catalyst for change
and innovation. They see it as a moment in time to drive Contactless has grown massively over the past couple
and accelerate change in their business model, the way of months, which is helping to cement the case for
stuff gets done, and even the means by which we all accelerating investment in new PIN-on-mobile or tap-
consume services. The world plainly hasn't stood still; on-phone solutions. Using off-the-shelf mobile and tablet
it's just been thrown an almighty curveball we all have to devices, these new mobile payment solutions bring lower
adjust to. cost and higher performance capability into the heart of
the payments landscape.
Going beyond the obvious
At one level the changes being made are fairly obvious While our current times are troubled, our nature as
to see and are often immediate reactions with clever, human beings drives us to look beyond, to continue to
keep imagining and use whatever the situation we face
simple solutions that keep us moving forward. Examples
include supermarkets with Plexiglas screens to protect as a catalyst for change and as a platform from which to
energize our appetite for innovation.
their counter staff, a shift to online selling and home
delivery, or even the ramp up in contactless payment to
avoid the necessity of having to touch something that Simon Fairbairn is solution development director Western Europe for
could be contaminated. While these changes all belong to Ingenico Group. For more information on how Ingenico is working to
the canon of innovation, bigger more subtle improvements prevent fraud in the banks and acquiring space, visit www.ingenico.
and changes are undoubtedly taking place. co.uk/instore-payments-fraud-report. To reach Simon, please email
simon.fairbairn@ingenico.com.
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