payment solutions

From your position as an observer, what trends are driving business travel management today? Julie Troussicot - First of all, I can see a significant impact of inflation on travel budgets. As a result, even companies that were not very mature when it came to managing their business travel, such as SMEs and...

Specialising in business hotel reservations, CDS Groupe is continuing its expansion in Europe with the acquisition of the German business portal CRC (Corporate Rate Club). The takeover of this player, which was launched in 2002 and offers services ranging from hotel reservations to payment, and which will continue to operate independently, creates a new market...

Last March, your Group symbolised the handover from Frédéric Oudéa to Slawomir Krupa at the head of the Executive Board with a rugby match in the salons of the Stade de France. Was this a coincidence? Katia Lazarew - The date of the France-Wales match did indeed coincide with...

Since 21 July, the Chinese government has allowed visitors to link their Visa and Mastercard accounts to China's most popular mobile payment platforms. This measure offers visitors the convenience of paying for a multitude of services online. These include booking taxis, taking...

The deal had been brewing for some time. All that remained to be seen was who would conclude the sale with the Lufthansa group. At the end of 2021, AirPlus CEO Oliver Wagner told Voyages d'Affaires: "I am certain and completely confident that Carsten Spohr and the entire Lufthansa management...

For many business travellers, the expense claim is still the most daunting stage of a business trip. However, publishers, agencies and all those involved in business travel are investing to ensure a smoother - and above all less time-consuming - experience, with a view to simplifying the reimbursement of travel expenses. To measure the gap...

Sabre recently acquired virtual card leader Conferma. HRS, for its part, has set its sights on the Paypense platform. Amadeus has also taken up the subject with the creation of Outpayce. Is having its own payment offering becoming strategic for a travel industry player like Amadeus? Jean-Christophe Lacour - Yes,...

In just a few days, the integration of taxis and VTCs into centralised payment solutions has gathered pace. While FREENOW has just announced its partnership with American Express to connect its mobility solution for businesses to the Amex Business Travel Account, AirPlus has also announced a major step forward...

Business travellers whose companies are both FREENOW for Business and American Express customers for the centralised payment of their travel expenses will no longer have to download their receipts after their errands, or create expense reports. In fact, these key players in the business travel sector, each in their own field, have decided to...

While the issue of fraud regularly comes to the fore when dealing with expense claims, the financial impact it can have on business travellers remains less exposed. Mooncard therefore worked with Ifop to survey a thousand executives at the beginning of the summer. The aim...

Announced just before the summer, the partnership between BNP Paribas and Expensya aimed at offering the bank's customers a paperless expense management solution is now entering its active phase. At the end of September, the French bank will begin marketing this new service, which will simplify the administrative processing of expense...

Mooncard is strengthening the services associated with its Mooncard Premium corporate card in partnership with John Paul. Part of Accor since 2016, this concierge company reserves several advantages for holders of this top-of-the-range professional payment card, starting with 24/7 access to concierge services in France...

"Travelling or doing something for the planet, should you choose? After a scorching summer, which was also marked by an unprecedented wave of fires, the theme chosen for the 16th edition of UnivAirPlus was a timely one, without opportunism. "When I chose this topic in January, I didn't know that we were going to be experiencing a summer with...

In mid-spring, CDS Groupe announced the acquisition of Rydoo's travel business. What were the reasons for this takeover? Ziad Minkara - When Rydoo Travel & Expense decided to separate itself from its travel business in order to remain focused on expense, we entered into discussions, convinced as we were that...

Ahead of the Univ'AirPlus event - to be held on Thursday 8 September at the Jardin d'Acclimatation on the theme "Travelling or doing something for the planet, should you choose? - the corporate payment specialist has just announced the integration of the AirPlus Corporate Card into Apple Pay. While Apple's payment solution is now accepted...

While virtual payment has taken off irrevocably with the pandemic, many are adding to this strategic brick. One of the leading GDSs, the American company Sabre, has announced the acquisition of Conferma Pay, which specialises in issuing and managing virtual cards and is a partner of most TMCs, GDSs and booking tools...

Vueling has just announced that from 2023 it will accept payment for its airline tickets and services in crypto-currency. The carrier is integrating the BitPay crypto-currency platform and the Universal Air Travel Plan (UATP) payment network. Crypto-currency payment will only be open to individual travellers. Vueling: 50 air routes from...

Mastercard demonstrates, with figures to back it up, that the upturn in tourism is here to stay, particularly for business travel. Based on the aggregation of transactions processed by Mastercard as well as IATA passenger data and public macroeconomic indicators, the Mastercard Economics Institute survey covers 37 markets worldwide. This report "Travel 2022:...

The 16th edition of Univ'AirPlus, the traditional back-to-school event for the business travel industry, will be held on 8 September at the Jardin d'Acclimatation. And to mark the occasion, the corporate payment solutions specialist's customers and partners will be able to get together again after a virtual 2021 edition, in view of the uncertainties linked to the...

At a time when the environmental impact of payment solutions is relatively limited, why is a major player like American Express getting involved to help companies reduce the carbon footprint of their travel? Pierre-François Brézès - When it comes to carbon footprint, American Express is certainly not one of the 'usual suspects'...