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When the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security or CARES Act became law on March 27, it created the Paycheck Protection Program, a novel lending program targeting small businesses in the U.S.

The payments industry is an increasingly competitive environment, with pressures mounting on incumbent banks to innovate at the same pace as digital, neobanks and new payment players, such as PayPal and AliPay, to meet customer expectations for digital payments services that fit ‘invisibly’ into their convenience-driven lifestyles.

For the past few years there has been the trend of transitioning to digital payments which is accompanied by faster payments, Shrey Rastogi, senior payments strategist at Temenos believes that the lockdown will accelerate the transition as social distancing measures directly encourage the use of real time payment solutions

Fintechs in the payments industry saw problems coming when the CARES Act’s SBA Paycheck Protection Program opened the floodgates for millions of coronavirus-stricken small businesses to apply for loans via largely unprepared financial institutions.