TRAVEL TECHNOLOGY,COMMERCIAL TRAVEL
Sabre Corporation,Conferma Pay and Mastercard | November 29, 2022
Sabre Corporation (NASDAQ: SABR) a leading software and technology provider that powers the global travel industry, and Conferma Pay, a global fintech firm that specializes in payment technology, announced a new partnership with Mastercard to accelerate the use of virtual cards for business-to-business (B2B) travel payments.
Today's announcement builds on Sabre's August 2022 acquisition of Conferma Pay. The collaboration with Mastercard is the next step in advancing Sabre's goal to create an open and independent travel payment ecosystem.
Digitization of travel payments with virtual cards helps address the historic challenges associated with B2B leisure and corporate travel payments. The securely generated, single use card numbers provide a link between booking and associated payments to third party suppliers. Travel buyers and suppliers are therefore able to easily track and reconcile payments, as well as benefit from flexible pricing, financing options, and enhanced security through card payment guarantees.
"The payments industry is in the midst of a revolution and there is an increased need for travel companies to better manage the whole payment experience, Companies in the travel space – including travel management companies, travel agencies, corporations, issuers and technology partners – need sophisticated solutions and seamless connections. Sabre is taking strategic steps to fulfill the needs of our industry, beginning with the acquisition of Conferma Pay. Now, the new partnership with Mastercard will help Conferma Pay to build new and enhanced digital capabilities in virtual cards, transforming the payment experience for issuers."
-Roshan Mendis, Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer, Sabre Travel Solutions.
As part of the agreement, Mastercard has agreed to make a minority investment in Conferma Pay, which will continue to operate independently and serve the entire travel industry and beyond. Mastercard's investment in Conferma Pay is subject to customary closing conditions.
A combination of experience, technologies and capabilities will accelerate travel payment innovation and drive inclusive and sustainable growth for the sector, said Chris Fendley, Executive Vice President, Enterprise Partnerships at Mastercard. Virtual cards deliver visibility, boost liquidity and increase control over B2B payment flows, which enhance payment strategies and empower organizations across the travel value chain to run, grow and protect their business, which has never been more essential.
Conferma Pay connects issuers to more than 700 travel management companies, all the major global distribution systems and more than 100 online booking tools. Conferma Pay is fully integrated with all the major card schemes and serves more than 50 banking partners, who issue Conferma Pay generated virtual cards in nearly 100 currencies.
"We've already made significant inroads in the B2B travel space through partnering with Sabre, We are excited about the new investments. This, combined with our existing strong relationships, will enable Conferma Pay to build on our global footprint and be at the forefront of addressing industry challenges and opportunities."
-Martin Cowley, interim CEO at Conferma Pay
Sabre's Virtual Payments will continue to offer Conferma Pay services – with increased capabilities that help travel buyers, agencies and corporations best support travel customer needs. Sabre Virtual Payments is a unique, secure, automated and integrated end-to-end payment solution designed to simplify and add value to the transactions that TMCs, OTAs, travel agencies, corporations and travel suppliers do every day. Sabre Virtual Payments takes all the capabilities of Conferma Pay and its network of issuers and combines it with seamless integration across Sabre products for -connected travel buyers, agencies and corporations.
About Sabre Corporation
Sabre Corporation is a leading software and technology company that powers the global travel industry, serving a wide range of travel companies including airlines, hoteliers, travel agencies and other suppliers. The company provides retailing, distribution and fulfilment solutions that help its customers operate more efficiently, drive revenue and offer personalized traveler experiences. Through its leading travel marketplace, Sabre connects travel suppliers with buyers from around the globe. Sabre's technology platform manages more than $260B worth of global travel spend annually. Headquartered in Southlake, Texas, USA, Sabre serves customers in more than 160 countries around the world. For more information visit www.sabre.com.
About Mastercard (NYSE: MA)
Mastercard is a global technology company in the payments industry. Our mission is to connect and power an inclusive, digital economy that benefits everyone, everywhere by making transactions safe, simple, smart and accessible. Using secure data and networks, partnerships and passion, our innovations and solutions help individuals, financial institutions, governments and businesses realize their greatest potential. Our decency quotient, or DQ, drives our culture and everything we do inside and outside of our company. With connections across more than 210 countries and territories, we are building a sustainable world that unlocks priceless possibilities for all.
www.mastercard.com
About Conferma Pay
Conferma Pay is a global financial technology company. It designs and integrate virtual payment systems that provide a more efficient, seamless and secure way to pay for businesses. Conferma Pay was born in Manchester in 2005. Since then, it has connected over 700 TMCs, and directly integrates with all the major GDSs and OBTs. Its roots lie in corporate travel payment integration. It enables its payment providers to flow virtual cards into the preferred purchasing process of any business travel buyer. Crucial to this is its network of banking partners, who have issued virtual cards in over 200 countries, in 40 currencies with over 45 commercial banking partners via all major card networks. Its ecosystem continues to expand to meet the growing requirements of its global customer base.
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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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TRAVEL TECHNOLOGY,COMMERCIAL TRAVEL
Sabre Corporation and Trava | November 17, 2022
Sabre Corporation (NASDAQ: SABR), a leading software and technology provider that powers the global travel industry, announced a new Premium Solution Partnership with Trava to help automate post-booking processes for travel sellers.
Trava is the latest company to partner with Sabre on the Premium Solution Partnership, joining its network, and enabling Sabre-connected travel agencies to find and utilize partner solutions to support their specific business needs and requirements.
With this partnership, Trava will deliver its solutions and preferential commercial terms to Sabre customers in North America and EMEA. Trava provides travel companies with a GDS-agnostic 'no-code' process automation solution, allowing Sabre customers to seamlessly create and manage sophisticated post-booking workflows. Trava solutions deliver enhanced efficiency and scalability, typically reducing the manual time by +70% while increasing profit by around $5 per PNR.
"In today's dynamic travel marketplace, it is crucial that the entire travel ecosystem is coming together to accelerate recovery, create opportunities for future growth and ensure that the ever-increasing expectations of the end traveler are met and exceeded, We're delighted to welcome Trava as a Premium Solution Partner and together, we can help agencies to streamline their daily manual processes, increase profits and concentrate on creating enhanced traveler experiences."
-Marcus Pinedo, Vice President, Partner Solutions for Sabre Travel Solutions.
Trava's solution automates vital post-booking processes such as queue management, travel disruptions, refunds, exchanges, unused tickets and ticketing - all supported by powerful revenue boosting as well as client communication tools and self-service features.
Travel companies are rethinking the way they manage their operations. Automation is vital to achieve higher levels of efficiency and scalability in the post-booking area, says Maxim Sevastianov, Trava's CEO and Founder. "With travelers expecting a more personal experience than ever before and the entire travel industry facing staffing challenges, automation and self-service are key. With Trava, travel companies free up employee time, enhance their customer experience and at the same time, increase profitability. We're proud to be working in partnership with Sabre and excited about how we can deliver huge value to more Sabre-connected travel companies around the world.
About Sabre Corporation
Sabre Corporation is a leading software and technology company that powers the global travel industry, serving a wide range of travel companies including airlines, hoteliers, travel agencies and other suppliers. The company provides retailing, distribution and fulfilment solutions that help its customers operate more efficiently, drive revenue and offer personalized traveler experiences. Through its leading travel marketplace, Sabre connects travel suppliers with buyers from around the globe. Sabre's technology platform manages more than $260B worth of global travel spend annually. Headquartered in Southlake, Texas, USA, Sabre serves customers in more than 160 countries around the world. For more information visit www.sabre.com.
About Trava
Trava is a travel technology company, focusing on automation of post-booking processes within a travel agency and improvement of their bottom line. The company provides travel companies with a GDS-agnostic process automation solution, enabling them to seamlessly create and manage sophisticated workflows related to post-booking processes in GDS and mid-office systems. Thanks to the intuitive and extremely versatile web interface, requiring minimal technical background, customers can leave the technology to Trava and concentrate on what they do best.
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