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Covid-19 has provided countless lessons in various segments

It is still too early to assess all the consequences and, above all, all the changes that Covid-19 has caused and will cause. The pandemic has caused an upheaval on the global stage, radically affecting the lives of people, organizations and countries, leaving a trail of concerns in the brightest minds, and also providing countless lessons that will already be seen in 2021.

Taking stock of what happened, Elias Sfeir, president of the National Association of Credit Bureaus (ANBC), highlights some major changes that are here to stay, such as communication, which has gained instantaneity through Information Technology, and will continue to compensate for the lack of mobility resulting from the need for social distancing or isolation. 

He emphasizes that communication and information technology have also accelerated the adoption of remote working, which has ensured continuity in the flow of activities, as well as distance learning and remote medicine. He adds that, in general, technology has opened up a space that will only grow. For example, he highlights instant payment platforms, which have seen their implementation accelerate, the technological literacy, which has intensified due to the need for remote interactions and the Artificial Intelligence, which optimized processes and simulations in the development of vaccines which normally have a cycle of around 10 years, but in just nine months are already in use. 

The weight of the renegotiation

In his opinion, another important change that will continue is the openness to dialog and agreement at the most diverse levels of relations and sectors of activity, even stimulated by governments themselves, as in Brazil, where measures were soon adopted to ease the pressure of revenue shortfalls on individuals and companies.

During the pandemic, the focus was on good relations, based on the understanding that it was better to talk and negotiate,” says Sfeir, adding that the credit sector was one of the first to propose measures in this direction. It was understood that it was preferable to renegotiate rather than cut the relationship, so the financial flow may have been postponed and the economic flow maintained.

“A renegotiation policy was adopted with a much more accurate assessment than in past pandemics, when uncertainty inhibited credit, and the Positive Registry was fundamental in this process, so that the assessments of the moment were weighted given the history of information,” explains the president of ANBC. In his opinion, the flow of the credit process was maintained in a healthier way, due to the maintenance of the information necessary for credit assessment and the increase in analytical capacity, which helped to assess the predictability of the impact of the phenomenon on the payment capacity of the loans taken out.

The pandemic has shaken the idea of globalization

Governments and companies are reviewing the process of globalization and betting on China as a global provider. It has been noted that it is necessary to avoid placing strategic products and services in a single location, or in a country or region at risk, such as a health problem. There are countries evaluating splitting production between China and another location, and countries wanting to take on part locally and the rest in another region, among other alternatives, as is the case with Japan. The pandemic has shown that essential products and services need safety, quality and guaranteed delivery, and that the strategy of cost optimization, one of the pillars of globalization, puts this proposal at risk.

Finally, Sfeir points out that the pandemic has alerted civilization to what is known as ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance). The health crisis has accentuated the need for greater investment in the environment and sustainability, greater care with governance and social action. The pandemic has reinforced man's role as a harmonious participant in the environment, in order to bring about natural and economic sustainability. As a result, many companies have started to adopt these concepts in their operations with an eye on the future. “All the changes that a crisis of these proportions leaves behind is a legacy. What is certain is that there will be uncertainty on the horizon,” says Sfeir. Optimistically, he believes that the lessons of the pandemic will be a positive legacy, which is already a good start for 2021.

ANBC Press Relations

Regina Pimenta: (11) 98136.6835 regina@pimenta.com

Ana Carolina Rodrigues: (11) 98674.0348 anacarolina@pimenta.com