SINGAPORE, 18 JUNE 2015: eNett International, a leading provider of dedicated B2B payment solutions, has encouraged travel agents in APAC to scale their operations by strengthening operational efficiency, in order to take advantage of the phenomenal 62%1 travel growth expected across the region.
Speaking at the Travelport LIVE conference in Seoul last week, eNett’s Managing Director and CEO, Anthony Hynes, said, “The pace of change in APAC is unprecedented. It is already predicted to grow 18%1 above the global average over the next five years, but agents will only be able to take advantage of this if they start scaling their operations now.”
The Travelport LIVE conference brought together over 300 of Asia’s leading travel agents and industry players to discuss the latest trends, travel content and future of travel across the region. One area that was identified as key to scaling and streamlining business processes to optimise growth, was payments.
“The inefficiencies of supplier payments can be a huge burden on travel companies”, continued Anthony Hynes. “With average income levels in Asia expected to be 25% higher than those of American counterparts by 20202, traditional models where staff manually do what automated systems can now do, is no longer going to sustain growth. Automating payments and reconciliation enables scaling by generating efficiencies, reducing costs and controlling risks.”
eNett's own Virtual Account Numbers (VANs) have been designed to streamline payment processes through seamless integration, enabling payment from within the workflow and automated reconciliation. A VAN is an automatically generated MasterCard number used for supplier payments and can include payment parameters such as amount, currency, date and merchant, making it a more secure way to pay or be paid.
Hynes explained that focusing on automating operations would naturally enable agents to spend more time on customers and less time on manual tasks. “An agency turning over US$1 million to US$5 million typically needs one part-time staff member to manage payments processing and reconciliation3. For larger agencies, this climbs into double digits.”
A poll of conference participants confirmed overwhelming support for virtual cards, with 90% revealing that they plan to adopt them in the next 12 months, or that they already have them in use.
eNett VANs have already gathered strong momentum in the APAC region, with demand set to grow even further as agents look to streamline business processes.
ENDS
1. Euromonitor Travel & Tourism Retail Value (RSP) excl. car rental insurance replacements costs 2012 – 2018.
2. Fidelity Report: Imagining Asia 2020.
3. PhoCusWright Payments Unsettled Report, 2013.