It started with a simple premise. PYMNTS asked a cross-section of the companies we work with to give us their take on their wishes for the world as we approach 2021. In addition, we wanted to know how these companies and executives were planning for a new era when businesses and the economy start to bounce back.
Lest anyone think the responses were predictable and safe, think again. What we heard from this group was inspiring, hopeful and promising. It’s not just the potential end of the pandemic that created this output. It was the sum total of a year that was part tragic, part dramatic and all exceptional as the digital-first economy galloped toward its fulfillment and arguably saved the overall economic picture from looking a lot worse than it did. As one executive writing for this project put it, 2020 represented “innovation under adversity.”
It’s almost impossible not to look back at 2020 when considering 2021, and every company has its story to tell. But the project was about the business dynamics that will define the year. A few themes stood out from the companies and executives that submitted responses to our request. The first was the move from digital transformation to digital acceleration. Companies are not going to be satisfied with the progress made during 2020’s digital transformation. They will continue to push the issue, taking accelerated business models like buy now, pay later into the new year, and doubling down on innovations that will serve the consumer’s wish to keep their hands off everything from cards to packages.
The second trend that stood out from these responses is collaboration. Yes, there’s an old school way of looking at the current digital payments landscape. But these responses indicate that the legacy world of financial services will move closer to the new school of FinTechs and application programming interfaces (APIs) during 2021. And the world of exclusive access to financial products will meet the new world of inclusion. Readers will learn about the technologies that make companies hopeful in 2021, but they will also be surprised to see more intangible elements. Some words that appear often in this collection: agility, opportunity, resilience, adaptability and yes, unpredictability. All of these will be essential ingredients in continuing to connect consumers to commerce and each other in the new year.