MoneyTrend: Adapting to a COVID WorldTransaction Counts and Revenues ImpactedCustomer Perception Plays a Role in Temporary DeclineBY BARB WOLFAs I think about describing the check-cashing industry in New York during COVID-19, the word that keeps occurring to me is RESILIENCE. As essential businesses, the New York check cashers had to learn, adapt, and learn again, often under pressure to “get it right.”Adapting to a COVID-19 world in a nimble manner meant that we had to lean on each other, primarily through the Financial Service Centers of New York (FSCNY) association, in an effort to share intelligence, and more important, resources. For example, our normal cleaning crews weren’t equipped to handle sanitation of our stores. The association members shared information on cleaning companies that were certified. We needed to reassure our employees that their work environments were as safe as possible.While dealing with the physical constraints of the pandemic, we also had to deal with the impact on our revenue. There was a natural decline in transactions due to the pandemic and reduced foot traffic, but there were other factors that contributed to the revenue decline.A major factor was the lower number of open store hours; if a store that was formerly 24/7/365 is now only open 7:00 am to 9:00 pm, you are losing those overnight transactions. It isn’t an operational choice to close overnight (since we are an essential business, we weren’t forced to do so), but it is an operational reality. Fewer employees are able (or willing) to take public transportation; much more of a factor in New York and other major cities than in smaller communities. Also more employees are needed at home to care for their loved ones, particularly the elderly and young. With children at home, there are the extra burdens of some requiring assistance with online schooling, and others requiring supervision. Lower staffing availability meant that we had to pivot to ensure key stores remained open as much as possible. This was both a revenue examination as well as a geography exercise, based on an attempt to ensure customers were able to visit a location in reasonable proximity.Although transaction counts overnight are traditionally somewhat low (think third shift worker check cashing and financial emergencies as primary drivers), you’d be surprised at the impact that changing from 24/7/365 to shorter hours has on the transaction count during the day. The customers’ knowledge that “my check casher” is open 24/7 weighs into their decision about which check casher they choose. During a focus group a couple of years ago, a customer said, “I don’t know that I’ll ever need to visit my Payomatic at midnight, but I like knowing that you’re open if I do.” I’m certain that this perception contributed to reduced transaction counts during the height of the pandemic.The second factor affecting the overall transaction count was, and still is, the physical and visual nature of queue lines of customers waiting for service. Typically customers wait comfortably within the footprint of the store. Due to COVID-19 distancing requirements, customers now often stretch onto the sidewalk. This seems to cause what I’d call the “walkaway” effect. This could occur either from fear of the contagion or fear that the transaction will take far longer than expected. While our transactions continue to be processed expeditiously, and the transaction time remains steady, we are battling the “perception” of extended time.Over the last four months, we’ve adapted our operations to make certain that employees had the flexibility to be with their families as needed. As we cautiously creep forward, I can feel the excitement to get back to normal, whatever that looks like right now or what it will look like in the future. I see the overall transaction decrease now reversing as customers, also eager for normal, begin to transact in a pre-COVID manner. Check cashers have demonstrated that they can be resilient and can adapt to rapidly changing circumstances, while still serving both the needs of their customers and employees, and they will continue to do so.Barb Wolf is Chief Customer Officer at Payomatic, which operates over 140 Financial Service Centers throughout the New York metropolitan area. She may be contacted at bwolf@payomatic.com.