10-12 minutes diners otherwise take from deciding they want a bill to finishing paying and walking out.
In the case of the filling station, Visa
is working on a telematic communica- tion between the pump and the driver’s in-car computer screen to identify how much it would cost to fill the vehicle. The driver can choose that option or a fixed amount, say £30 or £40, of fuel. Once selected, the driver inserts the specified amount, gets back in the car and drives off. Visa has similar plans for parking
meters. Messaging between the ‘smart’ meter and the car allows the driver to confirm how many minutes they wish to pay for and then the metered time starts. Again, payment is automatic.
CONSUMERISATION It may be less obvious why invisible payment benefits travel managers, but the advantages are many, including their appeal to travellers. American Express Global Corporate Payments vice-president Alan Gillies draws attention to the “in- creased consumerisation of the corporate travel world”. That means giving travellers tools, including new payment methods, which please them but also tie them to the managed travel programme. The payment link also allows employ- ers to manage travellers even when they choose suppliers unavailable through regular channels such as TMCs and online booking tools. Once again, the invisible storage of a corporate card on the Uber app is a perfect example. Simon Thomp- son is senior manager for commercial market development at Visa Europe. He says that travel buyers “have been asking us how they can get the data and maintain duty-of-care” with companies such as Uber.
22 BBT CORPORATE CARDS SUPPLEMENT 2016
On-trip as well as pre-trip payments can now all be captured through a single centrally- billed account
In a recently published white paper, Airplus International points out that invisible payments also provide instant access to billing and invoice data. That is just one part of an even more profound benefit for travel managers, it argues. Invisible payments, along with virtual and mobile payments (the three of which it groups together under the label of ‘digital payments’), mean on-trip as well as pre- trip payments can all now be captured through a single centrally-billed account. Traditional centrally-billed accounts, in the form of the lodge card, can be used only for pre-trip payments through TMCs. Taking the theory a stage further, Airplus says companies could, in prin- ciple, get rid of plastic corporate cards, because digital payments can be con- trolled up-front and only triggered if they are inherently compliant with travel policy. That also suggests obsolescence for expense reporting systems – there is no need to submit expenses for approval because, once again, the transactions are inherently compliant and the data has already been captured at time of payment. The Airplus vision may be some years
away from full realisation, but invisible payments are already beginning to leave a highly visible mark on travel programmes.˜
In association with
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36