Kate Harden-England

💸 Priceline and Cover Genius have partnered to offer enhanced travel protection for flights, hotels, rental cars, and packages. Cover Genius' XCover platform integration allows Priceline’s North American customers to access policy details, support, and instant payments for approved claims. The collaboration aims to improve insurance experiences and has already increased insurance attach rates for Priceline. XCover Protection is currently available to Priceline customers in the United States and Canada.

💳 French bank BNP Paribas and Chinese FinTech Ant International signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on July 3, 2024, in Zurich to enhance cross-border payment solutions in Europe. The partnership focuses on integrating BNP Paribas' acquiring service with Alipay+, enabling acceptance of payments from over 25 international mobile partners. Ant International's WorldFirst will increase its SEPA scheme participation, backed by BNP Paribas sponsorship, to streamline online payments within the SEPA Zone. Additionally, the collaboration will explore tokenised deposits for global treasury management using Ant International's Whale platform, incorporating blockchain and AI. The partnership builds on a relationship initiated in 2016 with the rollout of Alipay+ in Europe.

✈ Sabre Corporation launched Air Canada's full content via NDC in its travel marketplace, enabling travel agents to shop, book, and service Air Canada offers alongside other content. NDC is available in multiple markets, including Canada, Australia, Brazil, Hong Kong, and several European and Middle Eastern countries. Air Canada's EVP Mark Nasr emphasized the importance of travel trade partners and a smooth transition to NDC. Sabre VP Kathy Morgan highlighted the benefits of their technology in maintaining operational efficiency and workflow integrity for travel agencies.

🚙 Focus Travel Partnership partnered with International Rail, making it the preferred global rail tech provider for Focus TMC partners. The partnership offers access to over 66,000 point-to-point rail routes in Europe, as well as routes in North America, Japan, Asia, Australia, and New Zealand, including UK domestic travel. International Rail's digital technology platform, 1track, facilitates this global rail booking access for Focus TMC partners, offering a sustainable travel alternative. The collaboration aims to innovate and shape the future of global business travel.

🏠 Wakanow.com, a major African travel seller, partners with Outpayce for virtual cards in B2B Wallet to pay suppliers like airlines and hotels. Group CEO Bayo Adedeji touts quick, easy payments and reduced reconciliation time, while Kalabash54.com CEO Ladi Ojuri highlights fraud risk mitigation. Outpayce's Claudio Santos suggests a 30% increase in virtual card acceptance with the right insights and data.