When it comes to payment challenges, travel executives cite card surcharges and international payments as their biggest headaches, according to research.
But, it is legacy technology that is stopping them from upgrading their payment systems to be more in tune with how consumers and businesses make travel payments.
The Travel Industry Payments Barometer Report 2013 (need to register), from Ixaris, shows almost 59% of respondents cite difficulties with integrating legacy systems prevents them from upgrading their payment technology. Just over 20% also say lack of capital is holding them back.
The sample is small for the study, 74 executives globally, so it's hard to see if this is a true picture although it is fair to conclude that legacy technology has long been (and, will continue to be) an issue for the travel industry.
Another take away from the research is that social media as a payment channel is seen as an opportunity by 85%. So what, you might say but, many industries, travel included, are grappling with how to make social media pay in the first instance, without even thinking about the mechanism.
Further insights from the research show:
- less than a third are totally PCI-DSS Compliant which has huge data security implications not to mention potential hefty fines
- more than two thirds say their payment infrastructure is inadequate
- about 53% say the UK's decision to ban excessive airline charges on credit and debit cards has either a big or slight improvement to profit margins while 47% say it has no impact on business
Last year's study also highlighted surcharges as one of the biggest challenges while reconciliation between supplier payments and customer bookings and fraud were also cited.
NB: Credit card image via Shutterstock