Page 87 - AAA JANUARY - FEBRUARY 2017 Online Magazine

COLUMN KRISTIAN GJERDING

other parts of the industrialised world. China Major Industry Players Fuel the payments will be conducted on smartphones
is considered a world leader in the promotion Payments Evolution and mobile devices as they travel.
and adoption of mobile payments, according The 2014 announcement of Apple Pay created How can airlines move now toward
to Banking.com; South Korea, Hong Kong and the impetus for full-fledged mobile wallet tomorrow’s mobile-centric payments
Taiwan, where smartphone ownership is high, implementation in 2015-16, and 2016 is the year strategy? Deploying the most popular wallets
are steadily embracing mobile commerce. when Apple and other major mobile wallet per region is a start. So is coordination with
providers are deploying their own solutions payment specialists and partnerships with
Clear Benefits for Airlines and across different markets and regions. payment and technology innovators.
Airports Android Pay, for example, recently The goal is to have the payments know-how
Giving travellers the ability to search, book deployed in Singapore and is expected to and vision in place now to smooth the eventual
and pay from smartphones helps airlines in a arrive later this year Australia. Apple Pay, integration and deployment of new payment
number of ways, including: available in Australia, Singapore and China, methods, reduce time to market for ongoing
• Turn “lookers” into “bookers,” ensuring the is expected to arrive in Hong Kong and Japan payment solutions, and speed the capture of
travellers who are searching for the best this year as well, while Samsung Pay, first new and existing mobile revenues that today’s
routes and fares can actually book and launched in Korea and the U.S., is now also mobile-centric passengers are creating.
purchase tickets when they find exactly what available in China, Australia and Singapore.
they’re looking for. Increasingly reliant on their smartphones Airlines, it’s your move.
• Offer omnichannel paths to purchase (online, and tablets for all phases of travel, it’s clear
offline, mobile), enabling travellers to buy that today’s travellers and airline passengers
products and services as they’re searching, are both driving and demanding the shift
booking, travelling to the airport, waiting across the airline industry toward mobile
in the airport, or planning their destination payments and mobile commerce capabilities. (Kristian Gjerding is CEO of CellPoint
activities. If they have not yet done so, airlines Mobile (www.cellpointmobile.com), which
• Create seamless experiences for travellers should position their finance, e-commerce provides comprehensive and powerful
by helping them transact, communicate and and IT divisions now for that day in the commerce and payment solutions for global
shop from the smartphones and tablets that not-too-distant future when most or all airlines, supporting all payment methods, all
rarely leave their sides as they travel. of passengers’ travel interactions and channels, all currencies and all devices.)
WWW.GBP.COM.SG/AAA JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2017 ASIAN AIRLINES & AEROSPACE 87