Business View Magazine | December 2020

5 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE DECEMBER 2020 O p e n i n g L i n e s D E C E M B E R 2 0 2 0 COVID-19 INCREASES URGENCY FOR BANKS TO TRANSFORM PAYMENT SYSTEMS AS DIGITAL PAYMENTS SOAR Accenture predicts US$7 trillion in consumer spending will shift from cash to cards and digital payments by 2023 T he rapid shift to digital payments due to the COVID-19 pandemic is urgently increasing the need for banks to modernize their payment systems, according to a new report from Accenture (NYSE: ACN). The report, titled “ Playing the Long Game in Payments Modernization , ” is based on a survey of 120 payments executives at banks globally regarding the transformation of their payments business, as banks make multi-year investments to compete with non-bank digital-payments providers and comply with new regulations. In the report, Accenture forecasts nearly 420 billion transactions worth US$7 trillion are expected to shift from cash to cards and digital payments by 2023 – and increase to US$48 trillion by 2030. The rapid move to digital payments has put additional pressure on banks, with 75% percent of surveyed bank executives saying that the pandemic has increased the urgency of their plans to modernize payment systems. “COVID-19 has accelerated the shift to digital payments at a pace banks could not have predicted,” said Sulabh Agarwal, who leads Accenture’s Payments practice globally. “The pandemic will permanently change how consumers shop and pay for products as they prioritize convenience above all else. While banks’ investments in new payments systems have focused primarily on meeting compliance deadlines, the way they will drive value moving forward is by embracing the changing consumer dynamic and improving the customer experience.” The survey finds 75% of banks see payments modernization as being driven by national