Impact of COVID-19 on Cash And Online Payment Industry

Across many countries where the latest strain of COVID-19 tends to make an impact, social distancing and isolation have been put in place. Employees have been asked to work from home, cities have been placed under complete lockdown and educational institutions have been shut down, as if they never existed.

Cash as a Medium of Exchange, Loses Its Dominance
We all thought and strongly believed that cash will always be around, but it looks like COVID-19 is making us get some perspective on a lot of things, including this.

The fact that hand-to-hand exchange of cash or physical currency might transmit the virus, majority of the countries around the world are reconsidering the use of cash. In fact, it won’t be wrong to say that Corona Virus has turned out to be a catalyst in bringing digital payments into the mainstream.

For instance, China decided to abolish thousands of banknotes or disinfect them in order to stop the virus from spreading, at least in the short run. SCMP recently reported that a local branch of the People’s Bank of China has been destroying paper money that was circulated through high-risk settings in Guangdong province, such as food markets and hospitals.

South Korea also seemed to follow suit, while in the US, the Federal Reserve began to store banknotes coming in from Asia before they are recirculated back into the economy.

On the contrary, Canadians tend to go with a completely different approach. There are rumors that some people there have been shoving the banknotes into washing machines to get rid of Corona Virus, as their paper money is made of plastic. And, that is taking money laundering to a whole new level!

A Shift Towards Digital Payment Platforms
Ever since the lockdown, the frequency, as well as the total monetary value of transactions, has dropped. However, with people only buying necessary goods and storing them in one go, the value per transaction has increased more than ever before.

So, whichever part of the world you are, now is the perfect time for making the best of shopping carts and payment gateways. Having that said, apart from China, Canada, and the US, as mentioned earlier, here’s what others are doing:

Britain:

The use of cash in Britain has halved in just a few days after the imposition of a nationwide lockdown by the government. Even the stores that sell essential day-to-day use of goods and services are trying to avoid taking paper money. For transactions of GBP30 (~$40) and under, the majority of the stores tend to accept contactless payment, either by mobile payment or credit and debit card, for instance, Apply Pay.

Russia:

As far as Russia is concerned, where the official cases of Corona Virus seem to be low as compared to other countries, a lockdown is still instituted in Moscow and other major cities in the country. And, this leaves the country to rely on online payments and discourage the circulation of banknotes.

Australia:

In Australia, the basic amenities outlets and stores have also encouraged their customers to go with the online payment methods and avoid touching EPOS machines as much as possible.

Kenya:

Other emerging regions, such as Africa, known to be having the largest unbanked population in the world, is also taking measures in the global pandemic and emphasizes to make greater use of contactless payments.

M-Pesa, the dominant player in Kenya, is all set to waive fees, and hence the daily transaction limit has increased from Ksh 70,000 (=$660) to Ksh 150, 000 (=$1400).

Until 2018 or even 2019, digital payment adoption was quite slow and only was seen to be more in use by developed countries. Reasons being, demographic, cultural, and technological barriers-many of which were a function of economies at different stages of development. However, since the adoption is now made mainstream, due to the uncertain longevity of Corona Virus, getting onto the bandwagon and choosing an online payment solution is the step towards a better and a safer future.

There are 5 Keys for Succeeding With Artificial Intelligence in 2018

While AI may not get that far in 2018, it’s sure to become a bigger part of your company. Over eighty percent of Fortune 500 CEOs say AI is very important to their organization’s future.

To help your company have success with AI in 2018, here are five things you should keep in mind:

1) Don’t be Resistant to Change
Many people, and that includes business leaders, hear AI being mentioned and immediately shift their thoughts to science fiction and fantasy worlds. However, AI is really here – and it’s time to start recognizing and implementing it. If you’ve used products like Siri or Alexa, you’ve used AI. Now that computers are stronger than ever, we can start using products like these for business. So the most important thing is to recognize that AI is here, and you should start planning for how it can impact your business.

2) Combining AI with Cloud Computing
As a company begins to implement AI, they’ll also need to improve their cloud computing. This is necessary to optimize the infrastructure and processing that supports the artificial intelligence. For example, the amount of data that needs to be stored for the AI to know all combinations of the human senses or how to process algorithms is too much data to be stored on company computers. This will require many companies to make big investments in cloud computing. What’s important here is to recognize that the two go hand-in-hand, and if your company is ready to make the leap to AI, it needs to have strong cloud computing behind it.

3) Personalizing Mobile App Development
AI is completely changing the ways we interact with mobile applications. For example, take Taco Bell. You might imagine their app would have the menu of the nearest restaurant so you can place your order. Thanks to artificial intelligence, it’s much more user-friendly than that. Instead, they released TacoBot. This app uses artificial intelligence to recommend personalized orders based on your previous purchases and current events. This is great progress in mobile app development, as the app is now able to think for itself to decide what you would enjoy. Business leaders need to be aware that customers will be expecting very personalized experiences because of AI.

4) Improving Software Development
While AI will help to personalize mobile app development, it will help to make software development a quicker process. This will be done by making use of AI technologies like machine learning, deep learning, language processing, and business understanding. Believe it or not, when machine learning and deep learning are mastered, AI will be able to complete software development on its own. As this progress continues, coders will focus less on programming rules into an application or software, and more on programming the application to learn on its own to improve. So keep in mind that AI will eventually have the power to design software on its own, and your IT team will need to know how to start programming under these conditions.

5) Its Already Happening
Some industries have already begun to implement AI. For instance, AI is already making strides when it comes to media. A leading audio company that has the largest reach on radio and television in the United States uses AI to process, review, and update audio information almost instantly. This should tell you that AI is here to stay, and it’s time to see how it can help your business. If your competitors are already implementing it, or are at least looking into the possibilities, lagging behind could cause a serious issue for your business.

As we’ve watched technology grow over the years, we’ve seen people be cautious about computers, to them being on every desk in every office in the world. AI will likely have the same future, as we are now uncertain about what will soon be standard. But if you keep the five points above in mind, you’ll be sure to be on point with your AI integration.

How to verify the FSSAI License Number Online?

Food business operators in India should follow the FSSAI instruction such as the food safety audit conducted in food serving, importing, manufacturing and storing across India. Regular inspection of FSSAI registration and FSSAI license among the food business operations in India.

Every food business operator in India must obtain an FSSAI food license online before starting their business. It is mandatory to mention the FSSAI license number on the product and within the premises.

However, if you want to check and verify the FSSAI license number and do a validity check. In order to check the validity of the FSSAI license number, we must first know the structure of the FSSAI license number.

How Does FSSAI License Number Look Like?
The 14 digits FSSAI license number is issued to all types of food business operators in India. Basically, there are three different types of FSSAI registration are done depending upon the scale of the business. These FSSAI license 14-digits numbers are divided into 5 groups. Each group represents and shares information regarding the type of food business, that differentiates a business from each other and thus FSSAI authority recognizes the category of food business operator.

How To Check FSSAI License Number Online?
Steps to check FSSAI license number online:-

Step 1: Visit the FSSAI government portal

Step 2: Search and Click to FBO search option

Step 3: Enter your FSSAI License Number & click on the “Submit” button,

Step 4: A new webpage will appear, showing complete details of food business operators with validity.

If you are a food business operator & your FSSAI License number validity is over then you can apply for FSSAI License renewal or you are starting a new food business then you can obtain new FSSAI Registration.