A whitepaper (pun intended) on the state of fintech, payments, and retail during the coronavirus pandemic.

Cities all around the world are hitting the multi-week, or even multi-month mark of quarantine, and it has brought on some major changes in the way that business is conducted. In some ways, the fintech industry has been presented with great opportunities, while it has suffered in other ways.

Below are some recent stats that will provide some insight into the winners in fintech, payments, and retail as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

• The coronavirus has driven a massive 72% rise in the use of fintech apps in Europe, hinting that the long-term legacy of the coronavirus will be an increasingly digital and online society. Although this study only measures usage in deVere Group’s own apps, with the coronavirus affecting millions of people around the globe, similarly sharp upsurges can be found and assumed elsewhere. Banking apps in Asia and the Middle East have reported strong upticks in usage, with one bank in the Philippines seeing more than the double the usual registrations for its online banking service.(Source: deVere Group)
• Video-conferencing provider Zoom reported a massive increase in usage, with 200 million people using the software per day in March- up from about 10 million per day in December. (Source: Zoom)
• Mobile and contactless payments are becoming more popular as governments and consumers try to minimize the interactions between people and common surfaces to combat the spread of the virus. Mastercard reported a 40% jump in contactless payments — including tap-to-pay and mobile pay — during Q1 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic worsened. (Source: Mastercard)
• Sales at Kimberly-Clark, the producer of Scott and Cottonelle toilet paper and Kleenex, increased 13% in Q1 2020 as consumers stocked up on toilet and tissue paper. (Source: Kimberly Clark)
• Sales of toilet paper are not the only thing increasing. Bidet retailer Brondell reported a sales demand increase of about 300% in March, and Business Insider reported that Brondell is “selling a bidet on Amazon every two minutes.” (Source: The Guardian)