COMPILED BY MAT THEW PARSONS
IN FOCUS
THE 1
TECHNOLOGOLOGY EXPERT Dan Fitz chief produc Traveldoo
zgerald ct officer
ald icer,
THE APPLICATION OF “buy now, pay later” in any domain is mostly used to convince people to make a purchase they would not otherwise have done. However, when it comes to travel, it could encourage more expensive or unnecessary trips because psychologically, they don’t have to find the money to fund it now. It’s potentially less of an issue for big
corporates where budgets often have more flex, but for SMEs it will likely increase their overall travel spend and encourage unnecessary purchases. We can imagine travellers explaining to their employers that it’s okay for them to take expensive flights as the cost will hit next year’s budget and thus be next year’s problem. They wouldn’t have made that same choice without it.
SIGHT 3
THE ADVISOR Gavin Smith, founder and director Element Travel Technology
I HAVE WATCHED NEW PLAYERS in the “buy now, pay later” concept for a while and tried to work out how it could be adapted to business travel. I do not envisage how it can. Buy now, pay later has been a feature of the leisure travel sector for years – most package holidays are sold this way. New market entrants have moved the lending risk from the agency to the credit provider. There is the possibility of corporate travel budgets increasing – leisure bookers tend to spend 10-15 per cent more using this kind of facility. Managing travel costs is a key benefit of using a TMC and I am not seeing TMCs take up this solution. Fly Now Pay Later has been in the UK for a while and has made ground in the leisure space and direct airline sales channels. Businesses looking to improve travel costs would be better served talking to their TMC, bank or credit card provider.
buyingbusinesstravel.com
Following United Airlines’ tie-up with flexible
payment provider Uplift, could the buy now,
pay later concept take off in the wider business travel sector?
2 4
THE
THE EN
ENTREPRENEUR Neil Rut
R
Neil Ruth ffounder,ounder, Tapt i
Taptrrip
CASH FLOW CAN BE CRITICAL for small business, particularly for a start-up. This can be to extend runway, while raising investment, during hyper-growth phases and, of course, during the more difficult periods. Managing your business travel spend, in these varied instances, makes for a valid use case for paying by instalments. But it needs to be easy to use and flexible for fast-moving growth businesses. To address the issue of cash flow, Taptrip has recently partnered with fellow Techstars alumni Swipedom. Swipedom gives small businesses a credit line and provides them with custom, AI-powered repayment plans that make it easier and cheaper to repay their balances. This allows us to better serve our business travel customers.
THE TRAVEL AND MEETINGS CONSULTANT Raj Sachdave managing partner, Black Box Partnerships
LINES OF CREDIT (LOC) have been around for some time within the business travel space, so this isn’t a new proposition. Most, if not all, TMCs will offer a LOC either directly or via a card programme, which supports the service offered from TMCs.
Artificial intelligence and bots are making the administration of LOCs more efficient and widening the reach to businesses of all sizes, from those SMEs to large global organisations.
Regardless of the size of the organisation, budgeting and enjoying a “buffer” on payment terms is always a welcome benefit, be it for cashflow, recharging cycles, internal admin or half/full year cash reserves. Spreading the term has clear advantages (for a target audience), but the impact on demand and yield, not to mention defaults on LOCs, must also be considered.
2020 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 7
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