Virtually every kind of business operating in the year 2021 will find itself caught up in a data revolution which is changing everything from how people entertain themselves to how they shop, exercise, and even control their household appliances.

If you sell your goods and services around the globe, then you will know how complex navigating the rules and regulations of different markets can be. So, how has Brexit impacted on international business payments? Are there any positives?

Any business which buys and sells via non-cash payments such as debit and credit cards needs to be aware of Payment Services Directive 2 (PSD2). This is a new EU regulation which came into force on 31^st December 2020, and will apply in the UK from 14^th September 2021.

The use of cash to make payments was something which was already in decline on a global basis before the COVID-19 pandemic forced businesses to change the way they operate.

According to McKinsey, global cash transactions dropped from 89% of all transactions, to 77% in the five years leading up to 2018. While, over the five years between 2012 and 2017, the use of credit and debit cards as a payment method, almost doubled – rising from 5% to 9%.

If you’ve been working in retail this 2020, then it’s likely you’ve been able to take advantage of a genuinely global marketplace.

The power of digital communication and the potential of ecommerce as made it easy to sell to people thousands of miles away, as well as close to home, and this has helped to fuel the massive boom in online retail during the pandemic.