London, November 11, 2024 – "Alternative payment methods have the advantage of significantly reducing costs compared to traditional methods, both in terms of direct costs (such as bank and card fees) and indirect costs (for example, eliminating expensive manual processes)”. This is the debut of Roberto Da Re, CEO of Travel Ledger, who has made this factor the linchpin of his business. “Unlike credit cards, which impose percentage commissions between 1% and 3%, and bank transfers, which involve significant fees for transactions between different banks or countries – he states – alternative payments are usually fixed-cost , digital, integrable and immediate”. Just to give an example, there are Account-to-Account systems, which allow instant transfers between digital accounts, similar to a digital ATM, but at minimal costs. “An important advantage – he adds – is the speed and flexibility of payments: suppliers can receive funds in shorter times and agents can manage transactions based on their liquidity needs. In the travel sector, where speed of access to funds is essential, this efficiency represents a significant competitive advantage.

Gv: Can you describe the weak points of this form of payment?

“On the downside, legislation has yet to adapt to the speed of evolution of these technologies, and governments are sometimes cautious about the speed of transfers. Consumer protections, such as chargebacks , are less widespread, which can be a disadvantage for the buyer but an advantage for suppliers. For this reason, these solutions are particularly effective in b2b: they allow companies to automate the supply chain, improving efficiency as the number of participants in the platform grows. An interesting example is the BSP (Billing and Settlement Plan) of airlines, where a single process facilitates operations for the hundreds of participating companies”.

Gv: What is the target audience and how many customers do you currently have?

“Travel Ledger serves over 2,300 customers, facilitating approximately €100 million in transactions per month for global companies such as Carnival, ClubMed, Jet2Holidays, Royal Caribbean, Flightcentre, American Express, Auto Europe, WebBeds and many more. We have a particularly strong presence in the UK and Irish markets, where for some suppliers we are the only accepted b2b payment system. Given the results they have achieved, international suppliers are now pushing us to expand into other markets. Some operators sell their services to over 5,000 companies in Europe. Travel Ledger allows them to scale their business and manage a larger volume of customers. The platform automates tracking and reminders, improving cash flow and reducing administrative costs”.

Gv: What goals do you set for yourselves in Italy?

“Thanks to the zero cost for agencies and the immediate savings that the platform offers, we aim to involve at least 700 agencies by March 2025. We have already started collaborating with operators such as Glamour Tour Operator and are finalizing agreements with other operators to integrate them into the circuit by the start of next season”.

Gv: What can you tell us about the costs of use?

“For agencies, Travel Ledger is free. And not only does it have no cost for the agency and allows for immediate standardization, but in many cases it also allows for savings on the live costs of transactions. For example, when some consolidators charge agents bank transfer fees or card payment fees on some tariffs, if agents choose to pay via Travel Ledger, these costs are instead eliminated, thus allowing agents to save on every ticket issued. Suppliers pay an average fee varying between £0.50 and £0.90 per transaction, depending on volumes and the type of collection. Furthermore, each participant can operate as both a supplier and a buyer, allowing for automatic netting of financial flows to optimize balances”.

Gv: What are the advantages for the travel sector?

“The main advantage of Travel Ledger is that it allows the standardization of reporting and payment processes for all participants in the tourism supply chain, reducing costs without disrupting existing mechanisms, but making them leaner and simpler. It is also important to note that Travel Ledger never takes direct control of company funds, which always remain the holders of their own company accounts. Our solution does not require changes to cash flows, nor does it block funds to provide guarantees. And for suppliers who want to eliminate the risk of insolvency, we also offer a Premium product”.

Gv: What are the b2b initiatives for the sector?

“We are expanding our network of banking partners to offer more choice and also include payments to suppliers outside the network by March 2025. The platform is already multi-currency, and from February 2025 it will also be possible to make currency conversions directly on the platform. We have also just introduced a new functionality that allows suppliers to pay commissions via Travel Ledger. This will be particularly useful for hotels, who often find it complex and expensive to manage small commissions, thus adding further valuable services to our offer”.

About Travel Ledger

Travel Ledger is the leading B2B billing and settlement platform for the travel industry, streamlining and automating payment processes for over 2,000 businesses and settling over £70 million monthly. Our mission is to eliminate inefficiencies and reduce costs in the travel supply chain, offering secure and scalable solutions for accounts receivable, payable, and data exchange. For more information, visit www.travelledger.org.

For more information about this press release, please contact:
guidaviaggi@givisrl.com 
For additional comments:
roberto@travelledger.org