As the year draws to a close and with Christmas on our doorstep, this year feels very different from Christmas times before, yet we still have our reflective hats on and we are looking back on the year that passed before us.
It is true that it has been a year of hardship for many and unprecedented challenges, but there are positives and lessons to be found too. We have been overwhelmed with the sheer amount of innovation and entrepreneurship seen worldwide. Businesses have pivoted, shown agility and entire workforces transformed from being office based to fully remote. We have experienced kindness and a heightened sense of belonging as both people and companies step in to help their local communities, the less vulnerable in society and our health workers. In the face of the global pandemic, we extended our eco-friendly initiative to help businesses across agriculture, food supplies, medical equipment and distribution of natural resources, so we can help support organisations in these sectors during the Covid-19 pandemic.
On a personal level, I feel very proud of our team, and the courage they have shown this year in the face of crisis and uncertainty, Vorto Trading was able to execute on expansion plans into Cape Town and we won two awards ‘2020’s Leading Trading & Payment Solutions Provider’ & ‘Asia’s Most Trusted Payments Provider 2020’
As we look forward towards 2021, we are exploring how COVID19 has been a catalyst for change. Due to COVID19, we are moving into an increasingly cashless world. Whilst society was already drifting towards a cashless society prior to the outbreak of the virus, COVID19 has accelerated that change. For instance, at the beginning of the lockdown in the UK in March, the use of physical currency within retail dropped by approximately 50%. The virus has triggered a rapid adoption of digital payments and of course the Fintech sector has been able to thrive in response. In the face of COVID19, operating in a digital space is advantageous and allows opportunity for disruption and innovation.
In a future forward piece, Forbes cited that a key Fintech trend for 2021 will be enhanced digitisation of operations within the finance and banking sectors. During the initial outbreak of the pandemic, financial firms were forced to digitalise their workforce and their customer-related services. However, the next steps will be to make these processes more robust and where possible, automated. This will allow for firms to focus on ensuring the more human parts of their business, including customer service can be improved. At the same time, 2021 will see a growing variety of mobile payment options. This has only been accelerated by the greater need for social distancing, remote work and ensuring health and safety.
We are especially proud to be a part of the mobile payments space, offering our clients a way to do their business with simplicity and make international transfers with ease. We offer our private and corporate customers their own multi-currency ‘e-wallet’ account that can handle over 30 different currencies. This gives our clients great flexibility as they can invoice in any currency and use the same set of banking details. This ensures clients can keep their finances in one place and not have to be subjected to fees that banks charge when sending and receiving money.
Whilst we are looking forward to the new year, and hope that we will soon arrive at a situation where we have overcome COVID19, we will be taking the time over the Christmas period to appreciate the lessons and positives of this year. We wish all our clients, friends and family the greatest gift of all this season – the presence of loved ones and good health.
