Effective payment processing more than doubles bookings and supplier credit for VIAFlights
A family-run business launched in 2020, VIAFlights is committed to providing travellers with best-in-class service and glitch-free travel experiences.
However, payment challenges stifled growth and held the business back from meeting customer demand. The ongoing uncertainty, limits imposed on sales and the need to continually chase the payment provider for updates was highly stressful for the VIAFlights team. They needed to find a better solution elsewhere.
Enter Ecommpay, bringing smooth payments, near-instant invoice processing and 60% growth in revenue.
The VIAFlights approach
VIAFlights is a travel service provider that caters for all a traveller’s needs. Launched to help Asian people living in the UK to fly home to visit family in India, Pakistan and the Philippines, VIAFlights now offers access to flights from around the world, including the US and South Africa as well as the UK and Asia.
Through a dedicated approach and customer friendly packages, VIAFlights has carved a niche in the busy travel sector and is now a renowned and reputable name, recognised for its excellence in customer service.
Payment challenges
Before integrating with Ecommpay, VIAFlights experienced delays of up to a week for payment from an issuer after a customer booked a flight - and the payment was minus a substantial per-passenger payment fee. However, VIAFlight had to make the full payment to the airline as soon as the booking was made – an immediate cashflow challenge. Plus, the high payment provider fees had a serious impact on already very tight profit-margins.
As a young company with limited financial resources, VIAFlights had to cover the cost from funds released following earlier bookings. This meant the company was constantly calculating what was available from funds already released, before committing to supplier payments for new bookings.
Once the previously released funds had been allocated, no more sales could be made until the next funds were released. It had a serious impact on VIAFlights’ ambitions.
The Ecommpay difference
When VIAFlights joined Ecommpay, everything changed.
The other critical advantage is that faster payments have given VIAFlights’ suppliers greater confidence in the business. Vastly increased credit terms have been offered, bookings are no longer turned away and sales have soared by 60%.
VIAFlights is now able to go live on SkyScanner and Google Flights, thanks to increased capacity. And, with faster, simpler and more reliable payments, VIAFlights has secured the ATOL and IATA certification it has been working towards for three years.