Examining How the Payments Space is Responding to COVID-19 Chargebacks
Chargebacks911® COO Monica Eaton’s latest guest feature sees her weigh in on the payments industry’s response to the COVID-19 crisis for issue number 85 of POSitivity Magazine.
POSitivity Magazine is the official digital outlet of the Merchant Payments Ecosystem. The monthly magazine brings a selected combination of aggregated and proprietary industry news from the merchant payments space, presented in an easily-digestible format.
COVID-19 is a dynamic, fast-changing situation across the board. However, few facets of the global market as experiencing as much volatility as the eCommerce space. Merchants are seeing some benefits; as Monica points out, “digital channels are actually seeing an uptick inactivity. Consumers report shopping online 21% more frequently than before, while BOPUS (buy online, pick up in-store) ordering is up nearly one-third.”
Of course, those gains are offset by increased risk. While Visa and Mastercard are working to mitigate damage to the most vulnerable sectors, such as travel and entertainment, the protections are both temporary and limited in scope. Monica insists that we need long-term change to have any meaningful impact.
“As the present crisis illustrates, the standard procedures and policies governing the chargeback process are not responsive to any sudden disruption to standard business practices. Given the dynamic and fast-moving nature of the market, we need to develop policies that can be comprehensive, yet responsive.”