JULY 2018CIOAPPLICATIONSEUROPE.COM8IN MYOPINIONQ Global provides payment technology, delivering a solution to the travel and leisure industry that simplifies the process of sending and receiving money internationally. The end-to-end technology automates and simplifies payment processing whilst helping to remove the impact of currency fluctuations on profit margin. In the travel industry, making and receiving payments are often treated as separate processes. There are a number of reasons for this, including the international nature of the industry resulting in outgoing currency differing to the incoming, time delay between sending and receiving funds, and different operational processes required. Viewing the payment journey in this way can cause complexities. Multiple teams and business relationships are required to manage the process and financially protect the company. This is a costly process. Not just headcount and payment processing costs, but also risk management of handling multiple currencies and protecting the bottom line. Should companies keep these processes separate, or is this back office function harming the business? The industry is increasingly competitive, resulting in tighter margins. A customer-centric approach is important to ensuring sales growth and maintenance of margins. This is also true for the payments journey--making sure the process is customer-friendly whilst also benefiting the business. Customers want to pay using a method they are familiar with, in their local currency and with payment terms that are flexible, but what impact does this have on the business? The removal of card fees through PSD2 at the start of 2018 means businesses cannot pass fees onto the customer. As a result some businesses have considered removing more expensive payment methods (e.g. Paypal, AMEX), in order to save on costs. However, customers use these for a reason (e.g. air miles) so businesses are forced to keep them. Absorbing card fees on a sale is better than no sales at all.TRANSFORMING YOUR BUSINESS BY TRANSFORMING THE WAY YOU THINK ABOUT PAYMENTSOLIVER AYRES, HEAD OF TRAVEL & ECOMMERCE, EQUINITIE
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