Company Overview
Alaska Tour & Travel is a leading travel agency specializing in creating unique and unforgettable experiences in Alaska. With a wide range of services, from tailored adventure tours to luxurious scenic getaways, Alaska Tour & Travel helps clients explore the breathtaking beauty of Alaska.
Known for their deep knowledge of the region and commitment to exceptional customer service, Alaska Tour & Travel has earned a reputation as the top choice for travelers seeking authentic Alaskan adventures.
Challenge
- Low Payment Approval Rates: They were facing a payment approval rate of only 40% on their online transactions, which was impacting their revenue. This meant that more than half of attempted transactions failed, leading to lost sales opportunities. Customers from different parts of the world often reflected difficulties when trying to secure bookings, leading to a frustrating experience that undermined the company’s reputation for reliability.
- High Transaction Costs: Their existing payment processing setup, which primarily supported major card schemes like Visa and Mastercard, resulted in high transaction fees – upwards of 5% per transaction. With a monthly transaction volume of $1 million, this equated to $50,000 in fees every month Additionally, currency conversion costs were further eroding profits, costing the company a huge headache when managing cash flow.
Source: Worldline
Complex Payment Processing: The manual handling of payments across 15 different currencies was causing delays and errors, negatively impacting customer satisfaction and often leading to a huge delay on business payments.
Fraud and Compliance Risks: Managing compliance with international payment regulations and preventing fraud were ongoing challenges. The company’s resources were stretched thin, and they were experiencing a chargeback rate of 5%, significantly higher than the industry norm.
Solution
To overcome these obstacles, Alaska Tour & Travel turned to Gold Pomelo and its global payment solution. This partnership marked a turning point for the company. Gold Pomelo tackled the issue with a 2-pronged approach – routing card payment rails locally and offering alternative payment methods i.e. ApplePay and eWallets. The following are the results:
- Increased Payment Approval Rates: By optimizing payment processing and routing transactions through the most effective channels, Gold Pomelo’s solution increased Alaska Tour & Travel’s approval rate from 40% to 90%. This improvement translated into an additional $500,000 in monthly revenue.
- Reduced Transaction Costs: Gold Pomelo’s transparent fee structure and optimized currency conversion processes reduced transaction fees, saving the company $180,000 annually.
- Simplified Multi-Currency Processing: By automating the multi-currency payment process, Gold Pomelo reduced payment errors and delays, cutting the booking abandonment rate to less than 5%. This resulted in an additional 200 more monthly bookings.
- Enhancing Fraud Prevention and Compliance: Gold Pomelo integrated state-of-the-art fraud detection in parallel with 3DS 2.0, reduced the chargeback rate from 5% to less than 0.5%. This saved Alaska Tour & Travel more than $50,000 annually and saved their team from a world of pain.
Source: Worldline
What Gold Pomelo Did to Help
Gold Pomelo played a pivotal role in transforming Alaska Tour & Travel’s payment processes:
- Seamless Integration: Gold Pomelo’s team ensured smooth integration and transition from Alaska Tour & Travel’s existing provider within 6 weeks, allowing the company to start processing quickly.
- Targeted Payment Optimization: Detailed analysis of Alaska Tour & Travel’s payment data, led to optimization based on customer’s geographies and significantly improved their approval rates.
- 24/7 Support and Training: Ongoing support and comprehensive training to Alaska Tour & Travel’s team continues beyond initial integration – ensuring quick communication and keeping them updated on new solutions.
- Focus on Long-Term Growth: Gold Pomelo’s Global Payments solution is designed to scale with Alaska Tour & Travel, ensuring that their payment processes can support future growth and expansion into new markets.
