From Dial-Up To Touchless: How The Pandemic Fits Into The Evolution Of Payments

From Dial-Up To Touchless: How The Pandemic Fits Into The Evolution Of Payments

By Kasia Moreno

In the mid-1990s, when people used mail-in forms to buy music on compact discs, some of the biggest names in e-commerce today were unveiling a new way to shop.

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Those companies were taking advantage of dial-up internet service, which was quickly catching on as the concept of home internet for a monthly fee was introduced. Around the same time, in 1998, Peter Thiel and Max Levchin came up with an idea for digital wallets and started a company that would later become PayPal.

By the end of the following decade, developers were making apps for smartphones, opening up mobile shopping and yet another set of opportunities for retailers.

Fast forward to 2020, and the coronavirus is imposing itself on society in expected and surprising ways. It has most certainly changed