Coronavirus: Kantox calls out cash hoarding as it launches #PayitForward campaign

Forex platform demands business leadership to battle COVID-19 crisis

Spanish foreign exchange automation platform Kantox is calling on firms that work with the travel industry to not hoard cash to help save their partners from collapse.

In a LinkedIn article co-founder and chief executive of Kantox, Philippe Gelis, likened firms with healthy reserves deciding to hoard cash to shoppers panic buying toilet roll.

In response he has launched a #PayitForward campaign to try to encourage an “all in it together” approach to surviving the COVID-19 global pandemic crisis.

Gelis said: “There is no blueprint for what we are living through right now. Sitting here in lockdown, in an attempt to flatten the curve, I am experiencing these effects firsthand.

“With heavy travel restrictions already in place across Europe, the travel industry is clearly one of the most severely impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic.

“It’s also one of the most important industries in our global economy, supporting millions of people around the world.

“And although it’s easy to complain when a flight is delayed, or when a booking is messed up, travel is something all companies do and are being impacted by.

“Some governments are providing support to the hardest-hit industries. But this effort – while noteworthy – likely won’t be enough. Jobs are being lost and companies are suffering, (not to mention the personal losses).

“The business community has an opportunity to influence and mitigate some of these negative effects.

“Companies that are financially robust and relatively unaffected by this crisis can play a key role in promoting economic recovery. But this will require business leaders to take action.”

As part of the #Payitforward Travel Industry Initiative Kantox is calling on companies to make a financial commitment to their trusted providers.

Gelis said this will help “restore business confidence, ease supply chain disruption, and boost cash flows”. Kantix has vowed to pre-pay part of its 2020 travel budget to its trusted providers.

Gelis added cash reserves should not be hoarded, but managed and said “excessive hoarding, whether it’s cash reserves, toilet paper, or face masks, only serve to make the overall situation worse”.

He added making #Payitforward commitments to trusted providers is actually “a pretty smart business move”.

“It will strengthen their relationship. It will signal courage and determination to fight the ‘Covid angst’. It may strengthen overall business confidence and also shorten recession time.”

Gelis said: “Challenges like these are a great test of leadership. Each of us must decide whether to hoard without limits or take calculated risks.

“And to ask whether long-term profitability comes from being the last man standing, or from helping our providers and partners to stand their ground.

“If we act together, we may just be able to make a positive impact in these uncertain times and, ideally, make a virus-induced recession disappear as quickly as it came.”