NEW REPORT: Expedia Explores The Payments World

From international consumers embracing the mobile wallet to world travelers planning their next trips online, platform commerce is going global.

The September edition of the PYMNTS Payments Powering Platforms Tracker™, powered by WePay, features the latest headlines on how payment platforms are powering purchases both online and with brick-and-mortar merchants worldwide. 

Around the Platform World 

It’s no secret mobile wallets haven’t quite caught on among American consumers, but that isn’t the case internationally. Over the past month, research and debuts from companies are proving there is an appetite for mobile wallets — just maybe not in the U.S. (yet).

In China, for instance, mobile payments are so common that Alipay, the country’s most popular mobile wallet option, is looking to spread its wings. Alipay’s parent company, Ant Financial, recently announced the payment method is now available to the more than two million Chinese tourists who visit Malaysia each year.

Meanwhile, mobile wallets are experiencing a popularity surge in England. Mobile wallet transaction volume climbed by 336 percent in just the first six months of this year compared to usage rates at the end of 2016. That’s thanks, in large part, to an increase in spending at brick-and-mortar supermarkets and grocery stores, establishments which account for 55 percent of mobile payment usage. 

For a roundup of all the recent news and trends around the Payments Powering Platforms space, check out this month’s Tracker.

Expedia Explores the Payments Globe

While international travelers may be prepared to use foreign currency during their trips across borders, they’re way less likely to want to do it when making their travel reservations.

And, while having the capability to accept cross-border transactions is important for many businesses in the modern era of the online store and global shipping, Wilson Wang, director of global checkout and payment products for online travel platform Expedia, said it’s even more crucial for a company specializing in global travel. In a recent interview for this month’s Tracker feature story, Wang told PYMNTS the company has learned firsthand how important native currencies are to customers — and how critical those currencies are to the company’s business model.

“We really want to be able to offer a flexible solution, because we want to work with travelers around the globe, however they want to pay for travel,” Wang said. “We know that offering those flexible solutions and providing prices in different currencies is hugely important for our customers who are traveling from all over.”

To read this month’s Feature Story, download this month’s Tracker.

……………..

To download the September edition of the PYMNTS Payments Powering Platforms Tracker™, powered by WePay, click the button below.

About the Tracker

The PYMNTS Payments Powering Platforms Tracker™, powered by WePay, serves as a monthly framework for providing coverage of the most recent news and trends in the space, along with a provider directory highlighting the key players — the companies contributing across the segments that comprise the payments-integrated platform ecosystem.