Travel apps need to offer flexible payment options to meet customer expectations. Payment plays a critical role in conversions, so supporting the major methods is essential. In this article, we’ll cover the top 9 payment methods your app should integrate.
Introduction
Payment has become a make-or-break part of the online shopping experience. Customers have come to expect flexible payment options that suit their preferences and budgets. As a travel booking app, you need to meet those expectations to drive sales.
Offering only a couple payment methods will turn customers away. They’ll simply choose a competitor that provides more flexibility. By integrating the major payment options, you give customers what they want while boosting conversions.
Let’s explore the top 9 payment methods you must accept in your Expedia-like travel app. Covering these ensures you meet the needs of customers around the world.
1. Credit Cards
Credit cards remain one of the most popular and widely-accepted payment methods. Major cards like Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and Discover are ubiquitous globally. Customers trust credit cards for large travel purchases and enjoy perks like rewards points.
Integrating the top credit card brands is essential for any travel booking app. It allows seamless one-click checkout experiences that drive repeat purchases. Customers appreciate not having to re-enter their payment details each time. Stored cards also enable express refunds if bookings are changed or canceled.
You should implement cards via industry-standard APIs from payment processors. This provides the frameworks to securely handle, tokenize, and process card payments according to PCI compliance standards. Processors like Braintree, Stripe and PayPal make accepting cards straightforward.
Offering credit cards is a baseline necessity. They facilitate fast, easy checkouts that retain high conversion rates – a must for travel booking apps. Customers expect their cards to work as a convenient and trusted payment option.
2. Debit Cards
Debit cards rapidly gained popularity as an alternative to credit cards. They allow customers to pay directly from their bank account balance, without taking on debt or interest charges. This appeals to those who prefer avoiding credit use if possible.
While debit cards entail processing payments immediately against available funds, they remain very popular thanks to their convenience and widespread acceptance. Integrating the major debit card brands like Visa Debit, Mastercard Debit and others gives customers a familiar method they want.
Merchants prefer debit due to lower risks versus credit. Transactions clear immediately so you don’t face the potential for chargebacks later on should a card be reported lost or stolen after. However, ensure declined debit transactions don’t negatively impact the customer experience.
Customers booking on a travel app may feel more comfortable using their debit card instead of credit, especially for same-day bookings. Offering it expands your payment options without added complexity. Processors support processing debit cards just like credit. Checkout Zipprr Expedia Clone App.
3. PayPal
PayPal has become a standard online payment method across ecommerce and travel sites. It lets customers pay without entering cards or banking details on the merchant site each time thanks to its login credentials. This improves the checkout flow through single-click payments.
PayPal brings advantages for both customers and merchants. For customers, it provides an extra layer of security versus direct card entry. They like the payment protection PayPal offers if items aren’t received as described. Merchants gain access to PayPal’s vast user base and improved cart conversion rates.
Integrating PayPal is relatively simple via its RESTful APIs. It doesn’t require significant changes to your booking workflows either. Customers get redirected to PayPal to log in and authorize payments securely before returning to your site. PayPal even allows partial refunds if needed.
Given its widespread global reach covering over 200 markets, adding PayPal as a purchase option opens your travel app up to a huge customer segment. It acts as a bridge currency between different regions as well.
4. Digital Wallets
Digital wallets have rapidly grown in popularity for mobile and contactless payments. Integrating the major platforms like Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Samsung Pay lets customers checkout easily from their phone without tapping a card. This enhances the in-app payment experience.
Wallets improve security through one-touch biometrics like fingerprints rather than storing card details on a device. They let customers pay anywhere that supports near-field communication (NFC) payments. Since booking travel often happens on mobile, supporting wallets boosts conversions through frictionless checkouts.
Customers using iPhones or Samsung devices will prefer wallets to entering card info repeatedly. Implementing the main wallet platforms through their APIs allows card and account linkages that are quick to tokenize and process payments remotely.
By adding wallets, you tap into mobile-first consumers who book travel frequently on the go. Powerful wallets see huge adoption among frequent travelers due to their enhanced security and convenience for on-the-go payments globally.
5. Bank Transfers
Bank transfers remain popular payment methods in some regions like Europe where security through direct banking is valued highly. Customers initiate transfers through their online banking portal to send funds directly to a merchant account.
While more complicated to integrate versus cards, bank transfers open your travel app up to risk-averse customers who prefer direct access to funds. They see additional security handling money within the bank network rather than providing card credentials online.
Common bank transfer solutions include services like Sofort in Germany, iDEAL in Netherlands, and others that customize integrations for country-specific needs. Payment processors assist here by managing transfers through standard APIs similar to cards.
Customers booking last-minute trips may lean towards bank transfers as an alternative to credit. While potentially slower than cards, supporting transfers expands your payment mix for regional audiences. Ensure messaging clearly explains the process so transfers remain a frictionless checkout option.
6. Gift Cards
Gift cards open up a new avenue for purchases by letting customers redeem existing balances. Major brands like Amazon, Target, Visa, and others see high gift card sales that can then be used anywhere those brands are accepted.
Integrating gift cards involves processing redemptions similarly to regular card payments. Common processing platforms let you accept major gift cards through their tokenized API integrations. Gift cards arrive pre-loaded with funds requiring no underwriting since they represent allocated spending budgets.
Some travel booking apps even let customers purchase industry-specific gift cards directly usable only for their services. This drives additional revenue by offering a new product customers can gift to each other. It lets those cards re-circulate funds back towards purchases through your platform.
Enabling gift card redemptions expands payment flexibility without added cost. You gain access to spending already allocated through popular gift card brands. Customers appreciate redeeming existing balances tax-free towards their bookings.
7. Rewards Points
Loyal customers accumulate rewards points from many programs like travel provider elite statuses and credit card bonuses. Letting them redeem points towards travel bookings creates strong incentives to repeat purchase with your brand. It also cuts expenditures for points-heavy customers.
Integrating major points programs requires data sharing agreements due to their value. Programs provide balances customers can opt to offset costs. Your system exchanges points to original programs in return for payment equivalent to point values.
Customers strategically earn and use points valuing redemption flexibility. Giving them options to offset costs with rewards encourages repeat bookings for loyalty. Newer fintechs also let customers aggregate rewards across programs into consolidated digital wallets.
Enabling points redemption boosts customer lifetime value through increased spend and retention. Customized reward offerings create mutually beneficial partnerships that drive higher engagement across memberships.
8. Cryptocurrency
While still nascent and posing some regulatory unknowns, cryptocurrency adoption continues growing rapidly among certain demographics. Travel audiences tend younger and open to innovative payment methods. Therefore, it merits consideration for travel booking apps targeting early adopters worldwide.
Major platforms and payment processors ease cryptocurrency integration through standardized commerce APIs much like traditional currencies. Merchants receive immediate fiat payouts post-conversion, removing financial risk and volatility concerns.
Popular stable coins pegged 1:1 to USD also create opportunities for cryptocurrency use cases similar to fiat without crypto price fluctuations. Their model lets merchants accept payments directly in familiar dollars while also tapping the growing crypto ecosystem.
Regulatory clarity remains ongoing across jurisdictions. However, selectively adding major cryptocurrencies opens doors to new spending demographics seeking alternatives. Expect cryptocurrency usage to increasingly spill over into mainstream services like travel booking going forward.
9. Travel Funds
Many travel brands issue branded travel currencies or funds that can only be used to purchase services on their platform. These function similar to virtual gift cards that customers can purchase and spend within a closed travel ecosystem.
Some advantages of offering travel funds include:
-
Drives additional revenue by allowing customers to gift the ability to book travel directly through your brand. This targeted “gifting” spends funds back into your marketplace.
-
Enables strategic partnerships where your travel funds can be loaded onto co-branded cards or e-wallets issued through major travel credit card programs.
-
Offers customers a familiar way to allocate budgets specifically for booking travel with incentives like bonus amounts loaded automatically.
-
Keeps funds circulating within your travel marketplace rather than being deposited externally. You maintain control over where and how the funds introduced into your system get spent.
To implement travel funds, you would:
-
Design custom-branded virtual or physical travel currency products that load funds via your booking platform.
-
Allow purchase and reloading of funds through all supported payment methods like cards, bank transfer etc.
-
Automatically redeem travel funds during checkout by detecting balances and offsetting booking costs.
-
Consider offering rewards like bonus amounts for high travel fund loads to incentivize adoption and retain customer balances within your system.
While requiring more custom development, introducing travel funds as an alternative closed-loop payment method could drive new revenue streams and higher customer spending/engagement within your travel marketplace over time.
Conclusion
Offering flexible payment choices drives higher conversion rates and better serves customer needs. By integrating the top 9 payment methods discussed, you meet expectations whether someone prefers credit, debit, mobile wallets or other alternatives.
Covering these core solutions expands access globally and regionally. It creates smoother purchase experiences valued by frequent travelers booking activities across devices and borders.
Standardized payment processor APIs streamline integrations across multiple funding sources without complex modifications. Processors handle compliance and security best practices, offloading merchant responsibilities.
Always evaluate adding emerging methods to stay ahead while regulations adapt. But focusing on the consistent heavy-hitters provides customers what they demand to feel comfortable booking with your brand. Implementing these payment options empowers higher sales by giving flexibility where customers spend.