This paper investigates the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on financial institutions and consumers' adoption of FinTech in payments. We find that the pandemic: [1] Initially had a negative impact on the adoption of FinTech, but favorable short-term regulatory changes have reversed some of the negative effects [2] The use of all electronic payment cards has significantly declined during the pandemic except for charge cards. We find an increase in the use of charge cards as consumers shift towards cheaper forms of payment [3] The pandemic has magnified interbank contagion and liquidity risks and has reduced both domestic and international electronic fund transfers via RTGS. The pandemic has also resulted in a deterioration in the quality of commercial banks' assets and balance sheets [4] Remittance inflows via FinTech platforms have significantly declined reflecting contractions in global economic activities.

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Why and when do firms deviate from target cash? And why do we observe imperfect adjustment of cash? We postulate and provide evidence that policy uncertainty induces financing frictions and adjustment costs which decelerate the speed of adjustment (SOA) of cash toward target. We find that the effects of policy uncertainty on SOA are higher for firms that operate below target cash than for firms that operate above target cash. Our results suggest that under policy uncertainty shocks, firms deviate from target cash as the expected benefit of deviation is greater than the expected value of approaching the target.

Why and when do firms deviate from target cash? And why do we observe imperfect adjustment of cash? I postulate and provide evidence that policy uncertainty induces financing frictions and adjustment costs, which decelerate the speed of adjustment (SOA) of cash toward target. I find that the effects of policy uncertainty on SOA are higher for firms that operate below target cash than for firms that operate above target cash. The results suggest that under policy uncertainty shocks, firms deviate from target cash as the expected benefit of deviation is greater than the expected value of approaching the target.