TRAVEL TECHNOLOGY,INDUSTRY OUTLOOK
Regions Bank | December 06, 2022
Regions Bank on Monday announced the launch of a virtual commercial card solution to facilitate quick, easy and on-the-go business travel payments for the bank’s Treasury Management clients.Visa Commercial Pay, offered in collaboration with Visa, the world’s leader in digital payments, and Regions Commercial Card Services, is the latest in a series of enhancements Regions offers its business clients to better manage cash flow and streamline operations. Specifically, this solution enables businesses using a travel management vendor to centrally manage reservations such as air travel, hotel, rail and car rental. It creates a seamless integration option for the reservation process and can deliver enhanced data on employee travel, full spend visibility for all company travel, and automated expense reconciliation through unique virtual card numbers. Additionally, the solution allows business travelers to view all reservations in one place, along with real-time updates on trip expenses, all within the Visa Commercial Pay app.
Speed, convenience and ease-of-use are more important than ever, and Regions Bank takes a forward-looking approach toward connecting business clients with services that make managing money simpler and more intuitive, David LaPaglia, commercial card product and operations manager for Regions Bank. “The more we can make payments, cash flow and operations easier for our Treasury Management clients, the more time they can spend focusing on the core of their business and helping their companies succeed. Business travel is one area that can be particularly time consuming in terms of managing expenses and tracking charges. The Visa Commercial Pay Travel solution aims to fix that.
Recently, Regions launched another digital solution enabling Corporate Banking clients to send real-time payments through the RTP® network from The Clearing House. The new real-time payments service is part of Regions’ iTreasury platform, which offers a wide range of competitive financial management options for businesses through the bank’s Treasury Management division.
Further enhancements are planned, including an expansion of Visa Commercial Pay options beyond business travel support. In addition, Regions plans to launch Regions CashFlowIQSM in 2023. This new tool is being designed to improve cash flow for clients by providing seamless accounts payable, accounts receivable, invoicing, and business bill payment capabilities for small- and mid-sized businesses.
“Regions consistently looks for ways to meet the emerging needs of business clients and provide options that help them simplify operations and focus more on revenue-producing activities, We are committed to being an important resource, and our team is proud to now offer Visa Commercial Pay Travel while creating more enhancements to launch soon.”
-Bryan Ford, head of Treasury Management for Regions Bank.
About Regions Financial Corporation
Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE:RF), with $158 billion in assets, is a member of the S&P 500 Index and is one of the nation’s largest full-service providers of consumer and commercial banking, wealth management, and mortgage products and services. Regions serves customers across the South, Midwest and Texas, and through its subsidiary, Regions Bank, operates approximately 1,300 banking offices and more than 2,000 ATMs. Regions Bank is an Equal Housing Lender and Member FDIC. Additional information about Regions and its full line of products and services can be found at www.regions.com.
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INDUSTRY OUTLOOK
Selfbook | December 09, 2022
Selfbook, a unique, comprehensive hotel payment software platform bringing direct bookings and modern payment technology to hotels worldwide, announced a strategic investment from Amex Ventures. The investment follows a $40 million Series A and A+ round led by Tiger GlobalThis announcement highlights Selfbook’s continuous growth within the hospitality space. As it continues to broaden its reach in the travel industry, Selfbook looks forward to working with American Express following this investment.
Selfbook enables hotels to offer guests a seamless, one-step checkout experience directly on their websites while elevating the user experience and streamlining the payment process for hotels, which can increase conversion and boost revenue. Selfbook also groups multiple services, such as restaurant reservations, spa appointments and activities, into a single payment flow to easily drive upsells.
“The American Express brand is synonymous with global travel and payment security, and we are thrilled to have Amex Ventures be part of our investor base, As hotels around the world continue to use Selfbook to offer a guest-first booking experience and secure payments, the investment from American Express will help us deepen our global presence and provide even more effective payment tools for our partners.”
-Khalid Meniri, Co-Founder and CEO of Selfbook
We are constantly on the lookout for innovative technologies that enhance and elevate the travel and payments experience,” said Margaret Lim, Managing Director of Amex Ventures. “We believe Selfbook is driving hotel bookings and payments into the future with their elegant checkout experience, intuitive user interface, and robust support for modern payment methods preferred by guests through a unified platform that seamlessly integrates with existing hospitality software.
About Selfbook
Uniquely positioned at the intersection of fintech and hospitality, Selfbook revolutionizes hotel bookings and payments from the inside out. Working in tandem with hotels’ existing technology systems, Selfbook enhances what matters most to hotels, including direct conversion, revenue, cash flow control, and security. Built by a team of hospitality veterans, Selfbook’s products provide a refreshingly effortless user experience for guests and hoteliers alike. Selfbook is committed to empowering hotels worldwide with modern e-commerce solutions tailor-made for our industry.
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TRAVEL TECHNOLOGY,INDUSTRY OUTLOOK
Thales | December 07, 2022
The new Thales multimodal biometric pod is an efficient enrolment and identification solution that helps smoothly manage travelers’ border and immigration processes. The combination of ‘iris & face’ capture and recognition capacities enables a fast and secure enrolment and ID verification at borders. The pod features a modern design that perfectly suits the authority’s needs in highly secure environments.
The travel industry and border security agencies have recognized the need to improve efficiency and overall traveler experience at border entry and exit points. For years, biometrics has been used by authorities to simplify traveler experiences at borders, speeding up people enrolment and ID checks such as the eGates or Entry-Exit Systems. With the Thales multimodal biometric pod, borders authorities can easily integrate automation into their processes, without compromising on passenger and employee security or on the confidentiality of the data exchanged as the solution offers ‘security and privacy by design’ parameters.
Featuring a camera and a high-resolution LCD screen, the biometric pod is able to recognise pre-enrolled travelers’ iris and face at a distance of 0.5m and up to 1.5m with excellent accuracy. Boosted by AI, the solution captures dual iris and face in two seconds, leading to swifter operations and visibly shorter wait times . Thales biometric pods can be set at any borders checkpoint (airports, seaports, etc.) managing both the first traveler enrolment upon arrival and quick biometric checks whenever required (upon territory exit, internal flights etc).
“The combination of biometric patterns applied to contactless authentication, is a sought-after solution for many stakeholders to address security, operational and convenience challenges. Thales relies on its in-house biometrics, border and smart travel expertise to design, develop and deliver top tier responsible biometric solutions to meet users’ expectations and authorities’ requirements”,
-Youzec Kurp, VP Identity and Biometric Solutions at Thales.
About Thales
Thales (Euronext Paris: HO) is a global leader in advanced technologies, investing in digital and “deep tech” innovations – connectivity, big data, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and quantum technologies – to build a confident future crucial for the development of our societies. The Group provides its customers – businesses, organizations and governments – in the defense, aeronautics, space, transport, and digital identity and security domains with solutions, services and products that help them fulfil their critical role, consideration for the individual being the driving force behind all decisions.Thales has 81,000 employees in 68 countries. In 2021, the Group generated sales of €16.2 billion.
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