Visa Teams With Airbnb To Facilitate Faster Host Payments

 Visa and Airbnb are teaming up to help hosts improve their cash flow with the ability to get paid and move funds into their bank account faster. 

Airbnb’s use of Visa’s real-time push payments platform — Visa Direct — enables hosts to easily move money from Airbnb to a bank account associated with a Visa debit card.

Ruben Salazar, SVP and global head of Visa Direct, said in a statement that giving hosts more control over their funds is a “powerful driver” to bolster recovery in local communities as the global economy rebounds from the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Visa Direct capabilities on the Airbnb platform can help improve cash flow for hosts, allowing them to focus on welcoming travelers eager to explore the world again,” Salazar added.

Faster payments with Visa Direct can assist Airbnb hosts with maintaining cash flow and controlling their finances as the world reopens and people start planning getaways. More than 60 percent of U.S. respondents in Visa’s American Mood Trend survey earlier this month said they are ready to make travel plans and hit the road again after the pandemic year of lockdowns.

Sam Shrauger, vice president of payments at Airbnb, said it’s among the first travel platforms to use Visa Direct and give hosts faster access to their money. 

“We are always listening to our hosts and seeking ways to better meet their needs, and Visa Direct can play an important role in providing faster payouts for hosts,” Shrauger said.  

Visa Direct on Airbnb is the latest initiative by Visa to extend assistance to its financial institution customers by providing solutions that can help buyers and sellers tap resources, move money, and solidify operations. 

Silicon Valley-headquartered Airbnb was launched in 2007 and has 4 million hosts worldwide who have welcomed more than 800 million guests.

Among the world’s largest digital payments processors, Visa’s global processing network, VisaNet can process more than 65,000 transaction messages a second.

Visa reported second-quarter earnings on Tuesday (April 27) that beat Wall Street expectations, with revenues of $5.7 billion, down 2 percent year over year. Analysts forecasted earnings of $5.5 billion.