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Airlines Gradually Moving to Mobile Payments
by Chuck Martin, Friday, December 27, 2013 4:15 PM
Mobile payments are gradually taking to the air. Well, at least they’re on the way to being used to get passengers in the air. While credit cards remain the top choice for
being able to buy airline tickets, but mobile payments are accepted by a quarter (25%) of airlines, a substantial increase from the 10% accepting mobile just a year ago, based on a recent survey of 56
carriers by WorldPay. The top reason for alternative payment methods is customer related, with most (89%) airlines saying the top motivation for offering alternative payment methods is
satisfying customer demand. Here are the top motivations based on the survey:
- 89% -- Meet customer demand, offer choices
- 64% -- Reduce costs
- 59% -- Increase
revenue
- 41% -- Keep up with competition
- 23% -- To fit in with cross-border expansion plans
More significantly for commerce is that mobile usage is at the top of
payment methods with the greatest potential to drive airline revenue in the next two years. Here are the payment methods seen as having the greatest potential to drive revenue:
- 57% --
Credit card
- 57% -- Mobile payment
- 48% -- E-wallet
- 43% -- Debit card
- 36% -- Bank transfer online
- 30% -- Charge card
- 20% -- Frequent flyer
points
- 13% -- Prepaid cards
Airlines see the benefits of alternative payments as reaching new customers (63%), lower processing fees (61%) and a lower fraud rate (50%), based
on the survey. Part of the push for mobile payments is actually in the airlines’ version of shopping cart abandonment. More than a third (34%) of airlines surveyed said reducing
booking abandonment is a benefit of offering alternative methods of payment. A number of airlines (21%) also see alternative payments as causing a higher conversion rate. As in other
industries being impacted by various aspects of mobile commerce, most notably retail, the airlines face a host of challenges. Here are some, based on the survey:
- 73% -- Lack of
integration with current systems and processes
- 39% -- Cost of implementation
- 32% -- Fraud risk
- 32% -- Lack of knowledge, resources
- 7% -- Selling in to the
business internally
All that being said, about a third (32%) of airlines plans to accept mobile payments within two years and almost a third (29%) plan to offer e-wallets. So
while the majority (57%) of airlines see mobile payments as the greatest potential to drive revenue, only a third (32%) plan to accept them. Hmmmmmm.