Customer Success Story: Outpayce and Sembo drive a 30% increase in virtual card acceptance rates
As a rapidly innovating business‑to‑consumer online travel agency, Sembo has seen its payments strategy evolve quickly alongside Outpayce from Amadeus over the past three years.
The adoption of Outpayce’s B2B payments solution has supercharged Sembo’s payment capabilities. Prior to using Outpayce’s solution, Sembo paid their suppliers with a limited number of virtual cards with its previous technology provider, who facilitated transactions with approximately 120 airlines.
Today, the disruptive Online Travel Agency (OTA) is able to connect, seamlessly, to more than 150 global airlines, with mutually agreeable rebates having been negotiated with each.
How did Outpayce help bring this change to fruition?
Ambitious expansion
Innovators forging the travel landscape of tomorrow, the Sweden-based company is strongly positioned in its home market, with a presence across Scandinavia. Sembo also has plans to launch operations in Spain, Germany and the UK this year, with the Netherlands on the horizon.
As it expands, Sembo has reevaluated its payments strategy.
Before using the Outpayce solutions, acceptance rates for virtual card transactions with airlines were less than half. Some airlines were skeptical of the high acceptance costs charged by virtual card providers supported by Sembo’s previous payments partner.
The situation limited Sembo’s supplier payment options, as well as depriving the OTA of access to the significant rebates on offer from virtual card providers.
With OutpayceB2B Wallet, the acceptance rate increased by 30 per cent, bringing significant advantages to the travel seller. Using its deep knowledge of the travel landscape and relationships with airlines, Outpayce was able to take a collaborative approach that resulted in significant increase in acceptance rates.
“We are getting much improved acceptance rates from Outpayce and this makes our virtual card strategy viable on a global scale.”
Fredrik Ekstrand Head of Business Development and Supplier Relations, Sembo Group
Outpayce B2B Wallet
Outpayce B2B Wallet offers users lower processing costs when paying travel suppliers worldwide, while also utilizing two payment options – one of which allows users to earn revenue with every transaction and another that helps save on surcharges.
For Sembo the advantages of adoption were multiple, with the travel seller now able to pay its suppliers with 14 different cards, a significant increase from the previous provider.
Outpayce B2B Wallet also takes an orchestrated approach, using intelligent recommendation technology to automatically assign the right card, every time. For example, the solution can recognize which airlines accept which virtual cards, while also reflecting Sembo’s unique payments strategy. For example, if the OTA wishes to prioiritize free cashflow, B2B Wallet will recommend an appropriate credit card or if the priority is revenue generation, the system will prioritize cards that offer higher rebates.
With this flexibility, Sembo has access to a variety of rebate levels, allowing the company to negotiate mutually agreeable solutions with a greater number of carriers. More airlines mean a greater volume of booking transactions going through the company, and a greater level of rebates.
“This is a seamless process for us. Outpayce B2B Wallet uses intelligent recommendations to facilitate each payment according to our strategy – there is no manual work involved. It just works behind the scenes to optimize how we pay airline partners.”
Fredrik Ekstrand Head of Business Development and Supplier Relations, Sembo Group
The payment method is also considered secure.
Virtual card solutions have the ability to generate new details with every transaction, meaning users can stay a step ahead of fraudsters and ensure payments are always safe.
Payments can also happen well in advance of an actual flight – leaving scope for a partner to enter financial difficulties. If the worst were to happen, virtual cards allow Sembo to request a chargeback. With millions of euros moving through the company in transactions, these benefits offer enhanced financial protection.
Looking ahead
Sembo currently carries significant daily booking volumes, with levels expected to rise as the company expands.
As Sembo grows, Outpayce is well-positioned to support. With a global presence, the payments partner can respond to queriers within hours, helping to ensure the smooth running of Sembo’s outbound supplier payments.
“This is a close partnership between Sembo Group and Outpayce – it takes two to make a relationship work; if we do something, we do it together. We really got the support we needed.”
Fredrik Ekstrand Head of Business Development and Supplier Relations, Sembo Group
Outpayce also offers Sembo wide ranging data, exploring which airlines accept which virtual cards and even which rebates are possible to achieve. Sembo does not need to reach out to each airline in turn with Outpayce leveraging its close relationship with airlines across the world to agree mutually beneficial payment terms for virtual cards. As it grows into new markets, with new currencies, this capability will be increasingly valuable. Sembo will need to establish new relationships with airlines, a process which Outpayce can support.
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