The COVID-19 pandemic caught the entire world off guard, and seemingly overnight the livelihoods of small businesses were threatened by lockdowns, procurement challenges, and shipping disruptions. As a payment facilitator dedicated to the small business community, Wave observed an abrupt shift in the risk landscape of payment processing. Being the first pandemic in our lifetime, there was no playbook, but there were calculated steps we took to mitigate the impact.
Despite worldwide shortages, the small business community proved their ability to source Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), COVID-19 rapid tests, sanitiser, and other pandemic related items. It was fantastic to see the resilience and resourcefulness of the small business community, but these posed significant risks to payment facilitators and processors alike. Let’s explore them further:
Fraud risk
As with any economic crisis, fraudsters took advantage of the opportunity to scam consumers and business owners. Non-delivery scams were rampant where legitimate cardholders would make purchases from businesses that claimed to have sourced PPE, only to receive an empty box if anything at all. Counterfeit N95 masks were prevalent, and general fear about being able to make…
