20th December, 2022
Point of sale financing isn’t new, but its role in reviving travel bookings has stood out over the last couple of years or so. If we talk of the Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) option, a lot is being considered – different business models, regulation, protecting vulnerable consumers who may get into a spiral of debt, fraud risk and so on. But the popularity of this option refuses to die down as we gear up for 2023.
Travel businesses are keen on exploring options from several KPIs’ perspective.
Other than offering a transaction option that shoppers are preferring and appeals to them, merchants are also evaluating how they can benefit in terms of driving sales, upgrades, bigger buys, better checkout experience etc. And at the same time avoid any sort of friction, higher fee, fraud risk, chargeback ratio etc.
In an interview with Ai Events at ATPS in London this year, Uplift Inc.‘s Chris Stacey did refer to aspects like how airlines can make the most of data (an airline’s data and a BNPL specialist’s data), cross-functional efficacy paving way for an apt offering for a traveller and also taking care of fraud.
Interestingly, new initiatives are being taken. For instance, Worldline has announced its instalment payment (with Fly Now Pay Later). It is available for residents in Germany, UK, and the U.S. Among the features listed, Worldline has highlighted a single one platform, financial flow and reconciliation report; a dedicated customer success team in case of traveller inquiries and abandoned bookings; instalment plan options for up to 12 months at checkout; healthy cash flow by getting paid the full amount in a single payment upfront etc.
It would be interesting to see how the BNPL evolves and contributes to the growth of the travel sector in 2023.
By Ritesh Gupta, Ai Events
