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Foreign exchange brand Travelex has teamed with travel site Kayak to help consumers plan trips.
“Through the partnership, Travelex customers can now search for flights, stays and rental cars within the refreshed Travelex Money app, enabling them to plan their trip and manage their funds for it, all in one place,” the companies said in a news release provided to PYMNTS Monday (Jan. 16).
Meanwhile, Travelex said in the release it has overhauled its Money Card app, giving it a new look while offering users some new abilities.
Customers can now order a prepaid card or foreign currency from Travelex and have it delivered to their home or pick it up at a Travelex store. They can also view purchases and tractions and get a quick view of their remaining currency balance on their Travelex Money Card, the release said.
“We know that our customers are increasingly seeking a more streamlined, digital-first travel experience, and by integrating Kayak’s services into our relaunched Travelex Money app, we can now offer them greater convenience and choice when planning their trip than ever before,” said Travelex Strategy and Products Director Dan Gilby in the release.
PYMNTS looked at some of the challenges the travel sector faces in offering customers this streamlined service last week in a report on some companies that have found ways to increase the efficiency of their booking process.
While booking a hotel online might seem simple, several behind-the-scenes interconnections between booking websites and hotels are in play when customers browse rooms, check availability and compare prices.
“And as convenient as it might seem, there isn’t a universal intermediary connected to every booking website at one end and every hotel at the other,” PYMNTS wrote.
Complicating matters further is the network of third-party B2B online accommodation wholesalers who purchase rooms in bulk at a discount and resell them to travel companies.
This presents a challenge for travel agents and booking companies, which must maintain their connections to these wholesalers, usually in the form of application programming interfaces (APIs).
Meanwhile, research by PYMNTS found rising consumer interest in travel. The study “How the World Does Digital: Different Paths to Digital Transformation,” showed consumer engagement with digital tools for travel and commuting rising by 3.2% in the third quarter of last year.
“Consumers in all but three countries — France, the Netherlands and Brazil — conducted more digital activities, such as purchasing airfare online and researching travel information,” the study found. “Fueling this increase was a 3.4% rise in the number of consumers participating in these activities and a 2.7% climb in the frequency of these actions.”
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