The FINANCIAL — From waiting in Black Friday lines to visiting Santa at the mall, the things that usually mark holiday shopping have been changed by COVID-19. So as this different kind of holiday season kicks off, U.S. Bank is offering a number of digital products to help both shoppers and businesses celebrate safely, securely and conveniently. These digital tools are helping customers celebrate safely, securely and conveniently.
eCards when Sending Money with Zelle®
This month, U.S. Bank launched the ability to send an eCard when sending money1 with Zelle. As U.S. Bank notes they are the first bank to enable this capability. Sending your friends and family a holiday card with money is simple and fast. With no cash, checks, stamps and envelopes to handle, eCards sent with a Zelle transaction provide a clean, contactless way to spread holiday cheer without health concerns – or a trip to the greeting card store or post office. Gift senders can choose from 200+ card designs, including not only holiday but also birthday, graduation and more. Zelle is an increasingly popular choice for sending money, particularly during the pandemic. Transactions within the Zelle Network® are up 64% year-over-year, and hit a record-setting milestone processing more than one billion payment transactions in 12 months.
Pay with Rewards via PayPal
This holiday season, U.S. Bank and PayPal have enabled the ability for FlexPerks, Altitude Go and Altitude Reserve card holders to pay for purchases with PayPal using their credit card rewards points. FlexPerks, Altitude Go and Altitude Reserve cardholders who currently have their cards in the PayPal wallet will automatically see the option to use their credit card rewards when checking out with PayPal merchants. If their card isn’t yet uploaded in their PayPal wallet, customers can easily do so from their U.S. Bank Mobile App, their PayPal mobile app or from the PayPal website. Customers also have the flexibility to pay for the entire purchase amount using their card rewards points or use a portion of their points and the remaining amount due will be applied to their credit card.
Contactless digital payments
Contactless cards and digital payments allow customers to transact with minimal or no contact with a card reader at the point of sale. With technologies such as Apple Pay®, Samsung Pay and Google Pay, payments are just a tap or touch away. We’ve also made it easier for merchants to accept these payments, by providing smart, contactless terminals to accept payments. Contactless payment technology is another trend that has grown significantly in 2020.
E-commerce and business solutions
As more customers move to shopping online during the pandemic, U.S Bank made it easier for businesses to participate by helping them set up e-commerce capabilities. Banks talech and Elavon solutions enable businesses to be where their customers are, by facilitating integrated payments, order management, mobile wallets, billing and invoicing and more. E-commerce already accounted for more than half of retail sales prior to the pandemic, and it accelerated rapidly this year.
“We also launched talech Mobile, our new point of sale app, in October. This free software provides a full suite of options for payment processing, online ordering, discounts and taxes, SMS receipts, tracking sales in the cloud and more – enabling core business functions easily, on-the-go, and with the latest security. It is particularly geared toward retail, restaurant and service businesses, which are many of those hardest hit by the pandemic,” U.S. Bank notes.
Fraud prevention
Security features help make modern digital payments extremely safe, but scammers still try to trick shoppers. U.S. Bank has created a fraud prevention website with a host of helpful tools and tips to keep in mind this holiday season. U.S. Bank tells people that they will never initiate a request for their sensitive information – “we’ll only ask to verify your identity after we receive a request from you,” U.S. Bank.
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