The International Air Transport Association disallows travel agencies from using their own credit cards for purchasing airline tickets on clients’ behalf. If an IATA proposal to revise its rules gains approval from members, that prohibition will be history. Even if IATA members approve the amendment at a conference in November, though, Lufthansa Group seems to have no interest… Read More »
[UPDATE, Aug. 21, 2017: Concur plans in September to run virtual payment pilots with travel management companies that have gone through a “readiness” program. In an update for TMCs, Concur indicated that they must have a relationship with Conferma and support virtual payment for both Concur Travel and offline reservations. Concur also indicated that the next type of… Read More »
Introducing Blockchain Oct. 12, 2017 at 12 p.m. EDT (rescheduled from August) Register here. Gift a ticket here. What the heck is blockchain? Tune in as we chat with travel tech consultant William Niejadlik, Hospitality Technology Next Generation senior director of strategy and workgroups Armand Rabinowitz and business tech futurist Jack Shaw to learn more about this potentially impactful technology. It has infrastructure and… Read More »
Amid a steady flow of announcements about virtual payment in corporate travel, American Express is putting on a different spin. It has created a model that combines the single-use concept of virtual account numbers with the centralized Business Travel Account setup. Amex’s “enhanced BTA” now is available in Australia and the United Kingdom, with additional markets under consideration,… Read More »
Blockchain digital ledger technology could be used for loyalty programs, corporate contracts, payment, expense management, airport processing, traveler identity and maybe even travel policy and compliance. Innovators also are betting on distribution disruption. With tests beginning in about three weeks, Blockskye aims . . . For SubscribersThe full page is available to subscribers of The Company Dime. Please log in.… Read More »
Trip packages are uncommon in business travel, but the concept isn’t new. Daimler may become the first major corporate account to go all-in. In partnership with AirPlus, Amadeus and BCD Travel, the car maker is testing a program of intentionally limited choice. After employees select travel dates and trip components, the Amadeus Cyrtic online booking system returns just… Read More »
Payment May 11, 2017, at 12 pm EDT Download the recording here. Gift the recording here. Get the slides here. Payments underpin travel management. Ease-of-use for travelers and data for employers are vital. To delve into this topic, we talked one-on-one with Citi managing director Gonca Latif-Schmitt, head of the bank’s commercial card business in North America. Topics included the… Read More »
[UPDATE, Sept. 12, 2017: The U.S. General Services Administration announced Citibank and U.S. Bank as contractors for its SmartPay 3 program, covering purchasing, travel, fleet and integrated payment services. GSA indicated that the program would total $700 billion in transaction value during the contract term, which including extension options would run from November 2018 to 2031. The 560… Read More »
Sometimes the things we write about peter out. Sometimes more developments happen, but they don’t warrant an entirely new article. In other cases, something unexpected or counterintuitive is noteworthy in its continuance. Hence, the Updates post. Click to jump to United’s carbon emissions pledge to corporate clients, Upside’s launch, proliferating Basic Economy airfares, PayForTrip’s pause, the federal government’s… Read More »
Much work is needed for email authorizations to supplant old-fangled faxes as the de facto standard for virtual card authorizations. That is, if the industry cannot first dispense with both. Conferma last month described its new encrypted email solution as a PCI-compliant “breakthrough.” The company says it is cheaper than sending faxes and approved by such banking partners… Read More »