Learning From COVID-19 For the Post Pandemic World

We have all had to adapt and change since COVID-19 threw the world into turmoil. The alterations and adaptations we’ve made have been all-encompassing, including everything from travel to socializing to work to personal and business finance.

Fortunately, far from being privations, some of the changes we’ve made have improved our lives, as well as optimized how we do business. Let’s examine some of the changes that have occurred and what they’ll mean as our lives return to some semblance of normality.

Goodbye to Cash Payments

As reported in Retail Insider a new FIS report reveals that Canadian consumer cash payments halved in 2020 and are expected to total just four percent of payments in-store by 2024.

There are two main reasons for this of course. The first is the rise in outlets requiring contactless payments for hygiene reasons, as well as consumers preferring this option. The second is the massive boost in online retail that has occurred since lockdowns began in March 2020.

According to Statista, retail ecommerce sales totaled $4.28 trillion USD in 2020, and it is projected that this will rise to $5.4 trillion by 2022. It’s not only the challenges of in-person shopping which have caused this trend; the pandemic has accelerated a process that was well underway from the turn of the century.

To many, cash simply feels old-fashioned, unhygienic, and cumbersome. It’s far easier to make contactless payments or secure online transactions to pay for goods and services and settle bills and invoices.

Farewell to Checks

If cash seems primitive, checks seem positively archaic in 2021. There are many reasons why checks have become more of a nuisance than a convenience in 2021.

A 2019 Paysavvy report showed that issuing a single check can cost $17 when you include fees, processing, and postal rates. That’s a significant extra outlay to send money from one account to another.

Checks are awkward and time consuming to process. First you must factor in the time taken to write them, then checks must be mailed out, received, and conveyed to the bank for paying in. That can only be done when the bank is open, of course.

During the pandemic, the last thing anyone wanted was to make unnecessary trips to crowded banks or stand in line to cash checks.

Because paying in checks is a nuisance, recipients hang on to them for weeks or even months before cashing them. This creates difficulty in tracking when certain payments will leave a business account, creating unpredictable cashflow and additional risk.

Checks are seriously prone to fraud too. In the 2020 AFP Payments Fraud and Control Survey, 52% of respondents told of payments frauds involving forged, altered or otherwise fraudulent checks.

Ultimately, the only checks people welcomed in 2020–21 were the pandemic stimulus checks issued by the government to help citizens struggling with their finances and businesses. Even these have not been without their detractors.

Hello Electronic Transfers

The solution to all these issues is simple — secure, swift online payments. The move to a more convenient payment method may have been prompted for some by the pandemic’s restrictions, but it’s fast becoming a lifestyle choice.

As Payments Canada report, COVID-19 has created a permanent shift towards online digital payment methods for 44% of survey respondents. Customers are finding it easier to shop online and pay bills by digital means.

Businesses too have seen a shift to digital payment methods, both from their customers and to their suppliers. Invoices can be more easily tracked and cashflow becomes predictable when users set up a digital wallet and make payments online.

Dedicated FinTech solutions like Simplypay create digital paper-trails that telephone banking and online banking do not. Users receive confirmation of payments made, reducing uncertainty. Accountancy becomes easier when it’s clear exactly which invoices have been paid, and when.

How Simplypay Makes Life Easier

Post-pandemic, businesses should leverage the trend of increasing digital payments. There are many advantages to using Simplypay for your invoice remuneration and regular payments. Simplypay is:

Affordable — personal transactions are FREE. Business payments can be made for as little as $0.78 per transaction (with our Growth monthly subscription package).

Simple to Use — once payee details are entered, payments can be fully-automated at regular intervals, and one-off payments are simple too.

Secure — Simplypay is FINTRAC regulated, with regular bank-level security. Customer information is secure, with bank details stored on disks equipped with AES-256 level encryption.

Trackable — we show when payments have been issued and received. Recipients can track the progress of monies to their account.

Quick — funds are deposited into the recipient’s business account within 1–3 days.

COVID-19 friendly — nobody need leave the house or their business premise to send or receive funds.

How Does Simplypay Work?

Opening a Simplypay account is easy; establishing a new payee takes minutes. Here’s how it works:

1. Register for Free. Sign up online with a mobile number and email address.

2. Verify your identity, by means of government-issued ID.

3. Add your Recipients’ banking details.

4. Finance your account by credit card or with a direct link to your bank.

5. Make payments at your convenience.

Once you’ve set up your payment information and your payees, the process becomes even quicker, since you’ll only enter this information once.

Want to pay an invoice by credit card, but your recipient won’t accept them? That’s no problem. We accept all major credit cards. Simply input your payee’s information and then fund your account with a credit card. Schedule the payment and we’ll do the rest.

Local Banking with the Ease of FinTech

Although we utilize the latest technologies for secure online payment transfers, we still count ourselves a local business. We were born, and are based, in British Columbia, Canada.

You’ll get 24-hour email and phone support Monday to Friday with our Growth Package or go Ultimate, and we’ll answer all your queries at the weekends too (even at 5am). All without leaving the office or your home, donning a mask, or squirting yourself with sanitizer!

Flexible Terms

We offer one free personal account and three business packages — Growth, Ultimate and Pay-as-you-Go. The most we’ll ever charge is $1.50 per transaction, whichever way you go. Check out our payment plans here.

Don’t let your friends struggle, either: share this article so they can take advantage of Simplypay’s easy digital payment solutions too.