Hello everyone, I'm Aude Vicaire, and I welcome you to Instant Paiment.

Earlier this month, Market Pay participated in the WTCE aviation trade show held in Hamburg, Germany.

On this occasion, I'd like to focus on the challenges faced by players in the tourism industry, specifically in terms of payment.

The airline sector, in particular, caters to travelers from all around the world. These travelers have multiple touchpoints, whether it's for purchasing tickets online, buying duty-free products at airport shops, or making in-flight purchases. Additionally, there's the challenge of network loss during flight.

Here are three specific challenges that players in the airline industry need to address:

CHALLENGE #1 ON THE GROUND AND ONBOARD: OFFERING MULTI-CURRENCY PAYMENT

Given the inherently international clientele, airlines must provide the option to pay in different currencies. This is crucial to maximize commercial revenue. Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC) facilitates this.

You might have actually used DCC abroad without realizing it. It allows customers to pay in their familiar currency, providing them with the exact amount of their purchase and avoiding surprises related to exchange rates. This can reassure foreign customers.

DCC therefore contributes to improving conversion rates and is a valuable asset in this highly tourist-oriented sector.

CHALLENGE #2 ONBOARD: PROVIDING OFFLINE PAYMENT METHODS

Airlines often offer services and purchases during flights. While this is natural, there's a significant challenge: there's no possible connection in mid-flight!

Hence, it's vital to offer an "offline" payment solution. This entails technical considerations, as some transactions accepted onboard might be declined by the customer's bank once the connection is restored.

Therefore, not only is it necessary to provide this offline payment mode onboard, but there also needs to be a mechanism in place to manage potential declines and retry transactions transparently for the customer. This type of functionality is also applicable onboard trains.

CHALLENGE #3 ON THE GROUND: OFFERING FACILITATIVE PAYMENT SOLUTIONS ONLINE AND IN AGENCIES

Booking a flight or a vacation can cost several hundred or even thousands of euros.

During payment, consumers might face a significant obstacle: their card limit. Payments can be rejected due to this limit, leading to abandoned carts and an unsatisfactory experience. For merchants without an alternative solution, such situations often result in revenue loss.

To address this, airlines and other travel industry players can offer simplified bank transfers. Leveraging DSP2 regulations, this solution enables easy processing of high-value baskets through a much simpler process than traditional bank transfers. With this solution, there's no need to provide an IBAN, add a beneficiary, or manually input details. The information is automatically pre-filled. The customer simply selects their bank, verifies the information, and validates the payment. For merchants, this is also a payment guarantee and an effective way to prevent fraud, as the payment is irrevocable.

This solution is already available in over a hundred Carrefour Voyages agencies, thanks to Market Pay, as well as the solutions mentioned earlier.

And that concludes Instant Paiement.

Next month, I'll discuss the connection between point-of-sale software providers and payment solutions.

Until then, feel free to share your thoughts in the comments, and for more information about Market Pay and our products, visit our website and follow us on social media.

See you soon!