Who Has Your Money? How to Rebuild Travel Payments With Trust and Transparency

Over the past few years, with travelers becoming more diverse and smartphone usage upending the way people pay for goods and services, the need for seamless and secure payments has increased. Now, with the travel industry slowly getting back on its feet amidst a global pandemic, where do we go from here? In order to shore up their payments ecosystem, travel brands need to break down silos, maintain agility, and develop global capabilities through partnerships. SkiftX spoke with Laurie Gablehouse, global head of travel solutions at Ingenico, about the importance of transparency and centralization in rebuilding trust, and how travel companies can adapt and thrive in a world with constantly shifting protocols and restrictions. Ingenico was recently acquired by Worldline, becoming the largest European player in payment services and the fourth largest player worldwide. SkiftX: With many travel companies in recovery mode, what should customer experience professionals be thinking about right now in terms of moving forward with a payments ecosystem? Laurie Gablehouse: Recovery isn’t just about monetary recovery. It’s as much about customer experience, both externally and internally. I think this is a really good moment for travel companies to ask ‘What have we been doing well or not well in terms of customer experience, and which partners are supporting us through this time?’ Unfortunately, as we all know, many people are losing their jobs, and every single vertical in the industry has taken a huge hit across the board – but in anything there is opport