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The future of payments is here

The launch of the new baVel Pay platform confirms that B2B payments in the industry are about to change. Digitalisation and automation are here to stay. Until now, all digitalisation efforts have been focused on the distribution channel. Now, the time has come to put the focus on back-office processes.

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If you want to know how baVel Pay can help your company, contact us at info@voxelgroup.net. Or visit our website.

2020 has undoubtedly been the worst year ever for the travel industry. Hardly anyone, if anyone at all, was ready for such a blow. A year of transition, recovery and resilience begins now. A time of change that will set up a new era in the travel business.

In order to shed some light on what to expect from 2021 from a business perspective, we talked to 5 experts in the travel sector about the trends emerging, with a special focus on B2B payments.

#1 Restore trust and minimize risk

“Probably the most challenging issue the industry will be facing during the transition process is risk mitigation,” explains Voxel President Xavier Ginesta. The fact is that in March 2020, insurance companies started to withdraw a large part of credit from operations in the sector. Trust among the industry players suddenly evaporated. And consequently, the risk of default increased.

Mastercard Business Development Travel VP Chiara Quaia’s opinion is along the same lines. “The uncertainty in the evolution of the pandemic has driven an increase in the demand for secure and reliable forms of payments from both payers and payees”.

Relationships between clients and providers that had been working together for years with the safety-net provided by insurers have been broken. And throughout 2021 the industry will have to find new mechanisms to build the trust needed for B2B clients and suppliers to operate again in the new normal.

#2 Savings and efficiency will be a priority

As a result of the fall in income that the industry has experienced, savings will be a priority throughout 2021. And B2B payments will be one of the most and best optimized processes in the coming years.

“In the area of B2B payments, payment inefficiencies have taken the form of high payment processing costs, breakage, error-prone and expensive manual settlement procedures and, above all, non-payment risks due to the reliance on no longer existing (or severely reduced) credit insurance”, explains Xavier Ginesta.

XanderPay founder and HEDNA Board Member Mike Carlo speaks in the same vein, “We expect to see the move toward right-sizing B2B payments accelerate – cost savings will be a key driver well into the 2020s”.

These savings will not only come from process optimization, but also from the importance given by businesses to currency exchange, in a sector that has been, is and will be global. “There is a clear need for tools to help the financial department avoid currency fluctuations as the business scales internationally. In 2021 we will continue seeing an already apparent trend, FX in the Travel Industry is increasingly important”, explains Marc Padrosa, the Global Industry Leader (Travel) at Kantox.

#3 Digitization and technology will be a must

If the priority of businesses is to generate savings and efficiencies, the focus will have to be on digitization and innovation.

“This is probably the trend that will drive greater innovation and bring longer term benefits and changes to the B2B payment travel ecosystem. (…) Digitisation coupled with automation will bring efficiency in payment processes to the next level, especially in an industry like travel which continues to rely on very manual processes for back office operations”, explains Ms Quaia from Mastercard.

And it is thanks to this crisis that many businesses have realized how important process automation is in terms of cost savings, and they have taken advantage of this year off to see how they can digitize and automate inefficient processes.

In fact, after decades on the back-burner, many travel businesses have decided to digitize and automate their back-office processes with a common goal: to emerge from this crisis strengthened and prepared for a new era.  “Most of the travel companies have invested most of their remaining resources to build an infrastructure that leads to digitising and automating all those processes and tasks previously done manually, from accounting to payments or reconciliation”, says Kantox’s Marc Padrosa.

And those that have not will have to get their skates on, since “Digitization will be the new normal as far as back-office processes are concerned”, Mr Ginesta predicts.

The future is undoubtedly digital.

#4 New methods of payment

The emergence of new methods of payment will be one of the big changes that we will see in the industry, not just in 2021 but over the coming years.

The experts we consulted agree that these new payment methods will coexist with those already in use today, such as VCCs. And technology has allowed the creation of payment methods that meet all the conditions that travel businesses require in a situation such as today’s: cost savings, automation, security and trust.

This is how Logitravel CFO Jesús Pons sets it out: “What I perceive in the short term is possible new methods of payment that facilitate and lower costs in transaction frequency. Whoever manages to merge increased payment frequency with decreased payment and collection costs, with information on the financial status or compliance of the different players, will be well on the way to changing the way we use payment methods in the future.”

To which Marc Padrosa at Kantox adds: “I believe that the current situation will help accelerate the creation of new forms of payment in the industry, which is always a good sign. What we are experiencing are necessary changes, that if it were not for the pandemic, it would take years to occur”.

To address process inefficiencies in B2B transactions in the industry, initiatives have emerged that will be key to the new payment landscape. One example is the Payment Manager, born in the framework of the Open Payment Alliance and developed by Voxel.

And in this vein, at Voxel we have been working for months on programs such as the Early Adopters Program that are successfully fostering the adoption of baVel Payment Manager, the new payment channel for the travel industry.

A solution that is already endorsed by industry experts such as Mastercard: “Solutions like Voxel’s Payment Manager, which offer digitisation and automation of payment processing, reconciliation and invoice generation in one single solution provides the best option for travel agencies and hotels looking to modernise their systems.”

#5 Changes in distribution

Finally, distribution and channels as we have known them will also change. Distribution will evolve towards a model where direct contracting becomes predominant. Mike Carlo from Xanderpay explains: “We believe there will be an acceleration of the trend toward centralized payments, including a great push for direct bookings by the hoteliers”.

This change in distribution will inevitably have an impact on payments. In the words of Jesús Pons from Logitravel “the great change in the distribution channels that travel service providers have used in 2020 will doubtlessly continue to provoke changes in rates offered in 2021, and there will consequently be changes in the advanced amounts and the collection methods used so far, generating more booking transactions than in previous years.”

2021, as well as the entire coming decade, is perceived as a huge challenge by all businesses in the travel industry. Collaboration, technology and the emergence of new players will mark our sector over the coming years. And while it is true that the crisis has been earthshaking for travel, it has also been and is an opportunity to start building the future we want for our sector.

• Mike Carlo, founder at Xanderpay and Board member at HEDNA. 
• Jesús Pons, CFO at Logitravel Group.
• Chiara Quaia, Vice President Market Development Travel Enterprise Partnerships at Mastercard. 
• Marc Padrosa, Global Industry Leader (Travel) at Kantox.
• Xavier Ginesta, Chairman at Voxel. 

The economic activity of the travel sector has been one of the most affected by the COVID-19 crisis. The rentability of the travel transactions has decreased, payment guarantees have declined and, consequently, credit availability has been reduced to practically zero levels. 

In this context, the last session of the baVel Digital Summit was held last October 14th,  where key actors of the sector analysed the current situation of the travel sector with data from the last 6 months.

Participants agreed on the industry having to redefine the contracting policies and analyse the businesses’ costs structure, where the financial department will have a key role. In the same way, digitalization and processes optimization will be essential to help mitigate the losses. 

New scenarios for the travel sector 

“Covid recovery will vary across sub-verticals, markets and sectors”, assured Ana Arjones, Manager Enterprise Partnerships at Mastercard. According to Mastercard, and based on data of expense recovery in small independent hotels in 2020, the booking volumes in travel agencies has decreased by 75% compared to last year, domestic tourism is recovering its activity, especially in North America, China and Europe. Travellers prefer independent hotels, where security measures and social distancing is easier to maintain. 

 

On the other hand, international travel shows slow signs of recovery and is expected than in 6 months recovery will still be under 50%. According to the data of the hotel distributor FastPayHotels, last-minute bookings, millennials and domestic travel has prevailed over long haul and long-distance trips. 

On this line, Pancho Pérez Salazar, Business Development Manager at Comercia Global Payments, outlined the dramatic reduction of the international tourism expense, wherein Spain losses could raise up to 70,000 million euros. 

According to data from FastPayHotels, one of the main challenges the industry will face is lack of credit: “there is less credit in the market. If insurance companies do not provide credit, the travel industry will have to rethink the payment system”, assured Àlex Gisbert, CEO at FastPayHotels. 

Digitalization of the financial department 

During the talk, participants agreed on the need to optimize the financial department as a key element for the recovery. According to the Fintech Kantox, and looking into last 6 months data, 56% of financial departments that use manual processes expect an increase in the workload in the next 6 months. Furthermore, 81% expect to handle the upcoming workload with the same resources. 

According to Antonio Rami, Co-founder and Chief Growth Officer at Kantox, it is time to use the paralysis time to optimize operations and internal processes to become more efficient. “Ironically, now is the time to invest and opt for technology and employee empowerment”, outlined Rami. 

 

The event had more than 100 live-viewers. You can watch it again here: 

And, remember that tomorrow, October 21st at 4.30 pm, we will present a new session of the baVel Digital Summit: “Exploring payment risk mitigating strategies in the hospitality space”. You can still register here: 

The new session of the baVel Digital Summit will talk about one of the most important aspects for the sector: B2B payments and how to rebuild trust among actors. The session “Exploring payment risk mitigating strategies in the hospitality space” will take place next October 21st at 4.30 pm virtually. 

The complex distribution chain and the cancellation and credit policies adopted by the hospitality industry have raised the risk non-payment scenarios and, consequently, trust among actors has decreased. Furthermore, the volatility of the market caused by the COVID-19 outbreak has emphasized the need for risk-mitigating strategies. These strategies will allow bookings to be made with protection measures and will contribute to rebuilding trust. 

During the talk, experts of the sector will analyse how the use of technology, early payments and robust refund policies can guarantee the continuity of the business and provide a more secure environment for B2B payments. 

The panel will have the participation of representatives of key-sector players such as Laurie GableHouse, Global Head of Travel Solutions at Ingenico ePayments and Ana Arjones, Manager at Enterprise Partnerships at Travel Industries at Mastercard. 

Register today here:

Also, remember that tomorrow, October 14th, at the same time we will present What data are telling us” next to Kantox, FastPayHotels, Mastercard and Comercia Global Payments. 

You can find all the information on upcoming baVel Digital Summit events here. 

See you there!

Last Friday, May 29, Gina Lovatón, Vicepresident at Voxel Caribe, participated in the interviews series Tech Talks, an initiative of the magazine Revista Mercado about digital transformation, technology innovation and expectations after the coronavirus crisis. 

During the interview, Gina Lovatón talked about baVel’s role, the electronic invoicing platform of Voxel Group, in digital transformation and the trajectory of the company in the country. 

Opportunities in the new context 

When asked about how digital transformation is going to evolve in the country, Lovatón pointed out the importance of digitalization to make companies more efficient. “Most companies will start because of the crisis, but it has been an urgent and important matter to transform and digitize the processes of the companies”, assured Lovatón. 

The current crisis is accelerating the innovation and optimization of processes for many companies. “The digitalization solves inefficiencies and eliminates non-valuable tasks”, she added. 

The DGII and the electronic invoicing 

The project of electronic invoicing of the DGII is one of the greatest examples in digital transformation progress in the country. From January 2020, companies and private individuals can voluntarily adhere to the new electronic invoicing system of the public authority. 

On this matter, Lovatón pointed out the importance of electronic invoicing as part of the digitalization process. According to Lovatón, most companies are renovating their processes to face the current situation more efficiently and reducing administrative costs. 

baVel in The Dominican Republic 

baVel’s platform facilitates the exchange of transactional information between clients and providers, helping them digitize their supply chain and all their invoicing processes. “Our main objective is to digitize 100% the invoicing process of our clients. We provide value to the procurement, invoicing and payment cycle by optimizing the processes and fostering innovation”, explained Lovatón. 

During the interview, they also talked about baVelPay, which allows companies to send online payments to their providers. A tool that has become really important during this crisis as it eliminates the need to manage and physically cash checks. 

To date, baVel has become the reference network in the country to exchange data between clients and providers. The company provide its services to more than 300 Dominican companies and has processed more than 3 million transactions. 

Well-known companies such as Grupo Ramos, Distribuidora Corripio, Nestle or RIU, among others, are using baVel’s platform to exchange transactional information (orders, invoices, credit notes, etc.). 

The crisis as an opportunity

The technology sector will be key to reactive the economy of the country. Most companies are focusing on their internal processes, technology innovation and the digitalization to have a better response capacity in front of the crisis. 

In Lovatón’s words: “This crisis gave us the opportunity to reinvent ourselves”. 

 

You can watch the interview again here: 

Digitization has become a key aspect for retail companies in The Dominican Republic. The current security and social distancing measures are promoting that companies explore new technologies to change the daily processes that required physical contact, such as cashing checks and invoices. 

However, not all companies have the same needs of digital transformation. Especially, small and medium-sized companies that do not have many resources. 

On this matter, and after the success of the last session of the baVel Digital Summit, baVel’s team in Voxel Caribe wanted to prove to small and medium-sized providers that the digital transformation is accessible. Companies will only need a computer and Internet connection to start the digitization transformation. Companies that started this process and are currently using the baVel’s platform explained their experience during a Workshop held last May 12. 

Digitization, from the purchase order to the electronic invoice

The transactions platform baVel allows digitizing the supply chain from purchase orders to invoices, supply reception, claims and credit notes. 

“baVel allows us to receive purchase orders, and digitize and process them into our ERP; saving time and reducing errors to almost 0”, assured Julio Adames, IT Director at Álvarez & Sánchez. A&S was one of the first companies to start the digital transformation with baVel, “the fact of having baVel’s tool made our lives easier”. 

On this matter, they highlighted the adaptability and agility as some of the multiple benefits of having the transactional information on one point. “We eliminate the duplicate work and focus on added-value tasks”, pointed out the CEO at Ditex, Joan Juliá Calac. 

baVelPay, the elimination of checks 

On the other hand, companies also agreed on the importance of having a solution that allows them to pay while keeping social distancing and maintaining the company’s cashflow. 

On this line of work, baVelPay offers electronic payment services and let companies simplify their verification and issuance process and eliminate checks. This allows companies to rapidly adapt during the crisis and follow the security measures of the Dominican Government. “baVelPay eliminates the need to cash checks physically, which allowed us to work remotely and keep the social distancing measures”, highlighted Julio García, Controller at United Brands. 

Furthermore, baVelPay also contributes to cut costs in the administrative department and reduce the average collection period thanks to the automatic reconciliation of invoices. In Paola Hernández’s words, Operations Director at Le Buffet, “With electronic payments we could cut our costs and eliminate processes while saving time”. 

The e-Commerce 

Lastly, e-Commerce is a solution for companies with less technological capacity. In this case, the supplier can digitize the product’s catalogue to make clients order electronically. 

A simple solution to adapt daily processes into the digital world. It also adds some competitive advantages, such as reducing manual errors and increasing visibility and traceability of products. 

The digital transformation of the retail sector 

Once again, we could analyse first-hand how the retail industry is facing the current exceptional situation. Applying technology to the processes of the retail sector will be key to keep moving forward. A transformation that is becoming more accessible to all company sizes. 

If you would like to find out more about baVel and how it can help your company in the digital transformation, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us. 

The current unprecedented situation shows the importance of the digital transformation of the companies in the retail and distribution sector in the Dominican Republic. 

Companies that had a better response capacity and adaptation are those that previously had automated processes, introduced technology in the back-office; or have digitized the supply chain. On the other hand, less-advanced companies had to incorporate new technologies in record time. 

“We have turned upside down daily processes through collaboration and technology”, assured Iván Mejía, Logistics Vicepresident at Grupo Ramos during the context of the baVel Digital Summit. And added that flexibility, agility and rapidity will be essential for adopting new solutions. This way, existing initiatives play now a basic role, such as teleworking, e-commerce and electronic invoicing. 

Trust, people and technology

On this matter, experts agreed on the importance of a trusted technology system. In the Dominican Republic, many back-office processes are in-person, such as the issuance and reception of paper invoices or the cash of cheques. 

However, it is necessary to digitally transform present practices in order to confront the current reality and support more sustainable growth. Furthermore, these new practices will have to count on the support and trust of society. “We have to align trust, people and technology to get out of the crisis”, pointed out Jacqueline Reynoso, IT Director at Distribuidora Corripio, one of the most important business groups in the country. 

Therefore, online processes and services, electronic payments and online purchases have increased. This has provided higher trust and tranquillity to clients and more competitive advantages to companies.  

The electronic invoicing project of the DGII 

The electronic invoicing project of the DGII is an example of it. As of January 2020, companies and individuals can voluntarily adhere to the electronic invoicing system which allows communicating electronically with the public administration. 

This system contributes to reducing administrative and logistics costs, a reduction in the use of paper which provides a positive impact on the environment; and the elimination of in-person verification thanks to the electronic signature. Furthermore, it contributes to a national reduction in tax evasion. “It is a big step forward for the country”, assured representatives of Distribuidora Corripio and Nestlé, two of the companies that participated in the pilot project next to the baVel platform as its technology partner. 

On this matter, baVel, the transactional information exchange platform between clients and providers of Voxel Group, has developed the integration with DGII and has participated in the pilot of the electronic invoicing pilot next to Centro Cuesta Nacional (CCN), Distribuidora Corripio, Cervecería Nacional Dominicana and Nestlé.

The digital transformation, the key to the retail sector

The retail has been one of the most affected sectors during the coronavirus crisis. However, this situation has contributed to the exploration of new technologies which will take part in the corporate strategy for most companies in the sector. 

Even if most companies didn’t bet for digitization before, this crisis is propelling the digital transformation in the country to face the current situation. A situation which most companies are willing to use to strengthen the business procedures. 

Last Tuesday, May 12, Voxel Caribe held a workshop to analyze the key back-office processes that generate high hidden, transactional and management costs; and suggested solutions to digitally transform the Administration, Finance and Supply Chain departments. You can watch it again here. 

Yesterday, May 4, Àngel Garrido, CEO at Voxel Group, participated in Plan de choque para turismo, an initiative of Inturea and Growtur that want to share knowledge of professionals of the travel industry about the current situation and what actions can be taken to face the crisis. 

During the interview, Àngel Garrido talked about automation and digitalisation of the back-office processes of the touristic companies. An aspect that according to Laura Rampérez, Co-Founder and CEO at Inturea, will be key to face the current context for most touristic companies. 

Opportunities for the new context 

When asked about the reactivation of the sector, Àngel Garrido highlighted the situation of uncertainty shared with most professionals of the sector. However, they all agreed in the progress of secondary projects during this time: “This crisis will open new opportunities”. 

Some examples of it are new projects that some hotels are working on at the moment to adapt and advance in the new context, such as online check-in and check-out, mobile apps or the implementation of new technologies. 

On this line, baVel, the leading electronic transactions platform of Voxel Group for the travel industry at a global scale and in the HORECA channel in Spain, helps automate the invoicing process for the touristic companies. This way, companies are more efficient when reconciling and tracing invoices, as well as dematerialising the administrative department. “We help companies eliminate or automate non-valuable processes”. 

On this matter, Garrido added that when companies are in a crisis situation, they usually analyse the costs structure and it is when automation and digitalisation of processes become more important. 

OPA, the B2B payments standard 

In line with the automation and digitalisation of processes, another key aspect of the interview was the management of B2B payments in the touristic sector. 

Currently, Voxel and HEDNA (Hospitality Electronic Distribution Network Association) are propelling the Open Payment Alliance next to other players of the sector. The OPA is a new standard that offers a unique channel for B2B payments for the touristic industry that wants to suit the needs of the sector and eliminate the inefficiencies of the current distribution channels. 

The aim of the OPA is to connect the technology players and boost new payment methods, as well as streamline the associated processes. 

baVel Digital Summit

Finally, Laura Rampérez pointed out that Voxel is currently making a series of online conferences, framed in the baVel Digital Summit, that want to share the vision and experience with some of the top-notch professionals about the challenges and opportunities to face the current situation. 

This week, there are three sessions that will analyse the Retail sector in the Dominican Republic, the HORECA channel in Spain and the travel industry in the context of a global crisis. 

Furthermore, Xavier Ginesta, President at Voxel Group, will also participate in “Plan de choque para turismo” about the payments standard of the OPA, next Friday, May 8 at 6pm. 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ky_VjopUF5I&feature=emb_logo

baVel has been integrated with  Juniper, a leading technology provider for the tourism industry, to boost B2B payments in the travel industry. With this alliance, Juniper clients will be able to directly access the baVel payment service provider ecosystem that currently integrates more than a dozen electronic-payment service providers.

The baVel and Juniper systems have been connected for over 10 years, offering electronic invoice issuance and reception services. From now on, travel companies that use Juniper as their main booking engine will also have the possibility to directly access to payment providers such as Barclaycard, XanderPay, eNett, Wex, Apiso, Kantox or American Express without having to develop integrations with each of them.

Advantages of electronic B2B payments

The use of baVel payment solutions has a direct impact on travel industry management. In the case of hotels, it automates payments and eliminates manual processing of cards, in addition to being able to link certain rates to low-cost payment solutions. Meanwhile, OTAs, bedbanks and travel agencies can access an ecosystem of multiple payment solutions with one single integration, eliminating costly payment reconciliation and recovering VAT internationally.

Furthermore, baVel’s electronic payment services offer a secure, robust environment and PCI Compliance in all the countries it operates in. Companies like W2M, Fastpayhotels and Portimar are already working successfully with the integration between baVel and Juniper.

baVel and Cangooroo

baVel will also be integrated into Cangooroo, Juniper’s booking engine for travel companies that plan to make a technological leap forward and expand globally. Cangooroo leads in Brazil and has a growing global presence. For current Cangooroo users, having a direct connection to an electronic transaction platform like baVel contributes real added value since the use of electronic invoicing in Latin America is very widespread. In fact, Brazil’s electronic invoicing system is one of the most successful and consolidated in the world.