7th August 2023
There are plenty of reasons why travel merchants continue to work on their payment mix. On one hand they are looking at cutting down on the cost of payment acceptance and also boosting their cash flow, on the other hand making it convenient for shoppers to wrap up the transaction.
In Asia, airlines and other merchants have several factors to consider when they evaluate payment options like buy now pay later (BNPL), digital wallets etc. Be it for low credit card penetration or serving customers who don’t have bank accounts, there are variety of factors that can impact or boost the conversion rate. At the same time, in markets where traditional credit scores aren’t available, merchants are looking at other sources of data to ensure that a payment offering like BNPL is being offered to a consumer with an apt check or the right financial background.
It is vital to assess how the payment mix is evolving in Asia, which isn’t going to same for the most of markets.
There are certain intricacies that have to be understood in the cost-revenue analysis as well as risk assessment. Some points to consider:
- How many payment options are being chosen by a consumer?
- How are they being used for a variety of product categories – frequent vs. non frequent ones, low value vs. expensive buys etc.?
- Among the alternative payment methods (APMs) being used, which one is the most popular in the travel category?
- What do consumers think about protection (for e. g. a chargeback) when it comes to APMs?
- What about loyalty benefits that are offered by using a credit card vs. APMs?
Hear from experts at the upcoming #ATPSAPAC, to be held in Bangkok, Thailand (22-23 August, 2023):
By Ritesh Gupta, Ai Events
