Americans and Europeans who used to scoff at QR-style bar codes are going to need to learn how to use them to pay for meals, attractions, and tickets whenever they visit Japan. The reason? Swelling Chinese tourism is prompting the country to adopt China’s preferred mobile payment method.
Consumer adoption of new payment methods and devices for settling purchases is the main driver of adoption by companies. Yet travel companies can gain a valuable competitive advantage by predicting trends in payments and making payments as easy as possible for everyone.
The way that hotel stays are booked, especially in Europe, could make it hard for digital innovations like virtual cards and mobile payments to ever really catch on in corporate travel.
London's contact-less payments system is already embraced by many international travelers who want to quickly get where they're going. It doesn't make sense for travelers to buy a card they may only need a few times and tapping credit cards and Apple Pay on card readers solves this problem.
An in-depth look at the trends that are driving booking via smartphones and tablets, the challenges holding the market back, and strategies for businesses in the travel and hospitality industries.
Mobile is everything in Latin America, even more so than the U.S., so travelers in Brazil and Mexico are more receptive to using digital payment features than their peers in the U.S.
We sure are glad the the FCC gave the go-ahead for passengers to turn on their phones in-flight. No more having to fumble for credit cards with Apple Pay on JetBlue flights. Google Wallet, though, appears to be missing in action.
It's no longer enough for a travel brand to have an app and hope that convenience alone will lead to a booking. By not needing to input a credit card number to make a transaction, the freedom to make that last-minute booking just got expanded.