— Ellen Moeller , Head of Partnerships EMEA , Stripe

The global pandemic has uprooted every industry to some degree . The solution for many is leveraging technology to reach customers who are operating businesses remotely , living in lockdown or looking to replace the companies in their lives that have gone under . In many sectors , necessity has spawned a rapid move towards digitisation .

Whether COVID-19 has had a similar impact on the fintech space isn ’ t quite so clear . Leicht has witnessed greater interest from banking institutions looking to form partnerships with payment companies . He sees this as

a reflection of the ongoing upheaval in retail and merchant expectations , “ but also correlates to COVID-19 ” and how the pandemic has accelerated the shift towards digital commerce .

Meanwhile from Sokolov ’ s perspective , little has changed : “ I can ’ t really speak for banks , but for us there hasn ’ t been much change … We have always been collaborating with banks , rather than competing .”

Moeller agrees : “ I don ’ t see it this way . Financial services has always been an ecosystem that relies on partnerships .”

55 fintechmagazine . com