- Avianca, which is the world’s oldest commercial airline, has announced that it will be working alongside CellPoint Digital to launch a new suite of payments features – a smoother back-end process and a better approach to refunds.
- Customers will now be able to benefit from a whole range of providers, including e-wallets operating in the crucial European markets.
- A senior figure at Avianca Holdings said that the aims of the firm were twofold: to improve the customer experience, and also to bring down the amount that the company spends processing payments.
Avianca, the world’s oldest commercial airline, has announced a new partnership with a payments firm.
CellPoint Digital will work with Avianca to help customers make online money transfers and other payments.
CellPoint Digital is expected to provide a bespoke payment architecture for the firm.
This will have a double benefit of making Avianca’s internal financial processes smoother, while also allowing customers to enjoy an easier transaction.
CellPoint Digital will offer this through its own Velocity Payment Orchestration Platform (POP).
This will in turn add more than 40 acquirers and over five payment service providers to be brought together into one centralised location.
The move will allow over 25 new payment methods to be offered by Avianca.
These are believed to include e-wallets with an international reach.
Although Avianca is based in Latin America, these e-wallets will have, in part, a European focus, reflecting the diversity of the firm’s customer base.
Refunds will be able to be processed on an automated basis as part of the new service.
Transactions will also be able to be reconciled more efficiently.
In a statement, a senior figure at Avianca Holdings said that the firm was hoping to provide customers with a better experience, while also ensuring that its own balance sheet was benefiting.
Alvaro Rosales, who works as payment methods manager at Avianca Holdings, said that it was important to the firm that it responded to customer payment demand.
“Offering to our customers their preferred payment method in an appealing and agile manner is critical for an excellent purchasing experience and also having a significant impact on our costs,” he said.
He added that there were certain regional factors that made money transfers in this part of the Americas particularly challenging.
“It’s a challenge for a global airline to develop the eco-system needed to optimise payments, especially with the variety of local requirements for Latin America,” he explained.
He went on to say that CellPoint Digital’s offer was “independent and agnostic”, and that it could help to create the optimal payments service.
“Therefore, we needed an independent and agnostic payment orchestrator to process, optimise and automate all our payments through all our channels,” he said.
The international money transfers sector is constantly changing. The latest feature innovations are tracked over at our reviews page, where you can read up on the providers that you might want to use for your own transfers.
