Kate Harden-England1

💳 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.

✈ Journey Mentor secured a five-year contract with Bangladeshi travel agency Time Travel BD, integrating their SalesMentor and LoyaltyMentor solutions into Time Travel's IT infrastructure. Bangladesh's travel market is expanding, with monthly international passengers rising to 800,000 in 2021 from 500,000 in 2019, and domestic passengers reaching 170,000, up from 100,000 in the same period. Kazi Shah Arfin, CEO of Time Travel, emphasizes enhanced service, while Paul Sies, CEO of Journey Mentor, highlights revenue growth and profitability.