How Covid-19 is affecting the European payments landscape

Europe’s lockdowns have put businesses under pressure. A slowing economic growth reduces demand, supply chains are disrupted and the pandemic has placed an even greater pressure on European businesses to safeguard their liquidity.

Sharp drops in GDP across Europe are now pushing down revenues for businesses, restricting cash flow while increasing pressure on businesses to manage their cash and liquidity more efficiently.

Key findings

1. Recession is the top challenge for companies during Covid-19: up from 26% pre-crisis to 44% during crisis say recession has severe impact on their business.
2. Hospitality and leisure has taken a big hit. About 4 in 10 survey respondents from this sector say that a recession will have a severe impact on their businesses – the highest figure of the 11 industries surveyed.
3. A majority of companies say late payments threaten their survival during the Covid-19 crisis. SMEs are particularly vulnerable for unfavorable payment terms.
4. Half of European companies seek initiatives to prevent late payments from corporations and new legislations.

Safeguarding a steady cash flow through timely payment is more important than ever. Many businesses are now operating in survival mode, as they have been forced to rapidly close down due to government lockdowns following the Covid-19 pandemic.

About the survey:

The white paper is based on a survey that was conducted simultaneously in 29 European countries between 14th February and 14th May 2020. A total of 9,980 companies across 11 industries in Europe participated in the research.