Company Executives Forecast Critical Next Steps for Digital Payments to Help Combat Fallout from COVID-19 and Beyond

BOSTON, MA — January 5, 2021 — BlueSnap, the All-in-One Payment Platform for B2C and B2B businesses, has released key 2021 payment trends to give organizations the insights needed to adapt their payment strategies to move their businesses forward in the face of COVID-19’s global health crisis.

While 2020 presented a tough economic climate, many businesses combatted the effects of the pandemic through innovation. According to IBM’s annual U.S. retail index, the pandemic accelerated digital retail by five years.

“Thanks to digital commerce and rapid growth, businesses have been able to stay afloat during potentially tumultuous economic times,” said Ralph Dangelmaier, CEO of BlueSnap. “We’ve seen incredible innovation when it comes to digital payments, even in industries like healthcare, where adoption was lagging. Businesses changed dramatically, but what’s next? We put together these payment predictions to help companies move forward on their new paths.”

The full list of 2021 payment predictions have been released on the BlueSnap website. Here are several highlights:

• Corona-free payments aren’t going anywhere. Because of the pandemic, 67% of retailers now accept a form of no-touch payment. Contactless payments will find their way into even more places in 2021, like medical clinics, law firms and schools, and both vendors and customers will enjoy the ease of these modern payments.
• Expect more marketplaces in 2021. Businesses of all sizes will leverage new technology to seamlessly create marketplaces for new sources of revenue with automated onboarding and payouts.
• Merchants will look to maximize profits with low-cost payment options. The pandemic’s uncertainty has encouraged many businesses to look for additional ways to maximize their profits, including payment types. We expect more organizations to recognize the benefits of electronic fund transfers, like ACH in the U.S. and SEPA in the EU, where merchants can pay an inexpensive flat rate on the transaction rather than a percentage required for cards (2.5% in the U.S., for example).
• Installment payments will be everywhere. Offering installment payments, or the ability to Buy Now, Pay Later, will continue to grow in popularity. Innovative installment payment providers’ technology are able to quickly make loan decisions, and merchants will offer this option everywhere. Consumers like that it’s a cheaper option to using credit cards and paying them off in the same timelines.
• Omnichannel Commerce will become a payment norm. Businesses will get it right in 2021 and merge their in-person and online payments into a single channel that provides a record for all of their transactions so they can provide the experience their customers are demanding.

Last year and the pandemic forever changed buyers’ expectations for online shopping and digital payments. These expert predictions will help companies continue to work through these changes. See the complete list in the essential resource Moving Forward: 12 Payment Predictions for 2021 and join our free panel discussion where our payments experts will discuss these predictions further.

About BlueSnap
BlueSnap provides an All-in-One Payment Platform designed to increase sales and reduce costs for B2B and B2C businesses around the world. Our Platform supports integrated payments, online and mobile sales, marketplaces, subscriptions, invoice payments and manual orders through a virtual terminal. With a single integration to our Platform, businesses can accept any payment with ease. The Platform includes access to over 110 global payment types, including popular eWallets, built-in world-class fraud prevention to protect sales and detailed analytics to help businesses grow. Based in Waltham, MA, BlueSnap is backed by world-class private equity investors including Great Hill Partners and Parthenon Capital Partners. Learn more at bluesnap.com

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