CellPoint Digital, a leading provider of digital commerce and payment solutions to airlines and travel companies across the globe, and VeriTrans, a market leader for payment solutions in Japan, today announce a strategic partnership to jointly promote and cross-sell CellPoint’s commerce and payment solutions in Japan and VeriTrans’ payment solutions globally.

With this partnership, travel merchants will have access to a unique payment eco-system including all the cards and alternative forms of payments travellers need worldwide and options unique to Japan such as convenience store payments. VeriTrans will also offer CellPoint’s Velocity payment control platform and Voyage full digital commerce platform to the Japanese airlines and travel brands that they currently partner with.

CellPoint Digital and VeriTrans share the same mission: to make travel easier by creating a smooth, secure payment experience across all digital channels and empowering travellers to pay with their preferred method. The partnership supports the Japanese government’s “Cashless Vision” which aims to boost the cashless payment ratio from 20% in 2015 to 40% by 2025. There is an added incentive to do so ahead of the Tokyo games. Japanese merchants and customers are accustomed to cash payment – 80% in 2015 – but only accepting cash payment can be a major obstacle when dealing with international visitors.

“We are committed to providing our travel customers with the most effective payment and commerce solutions to realize Japan’s ‘cashless vision’ and CellPoint Digital is the perfect partner to help us achieve that,” says Hiroshi Shino, President and CEO of VeriTrans. “Through our partnership, Japanese travel brands can offer more payment options, especially on mobile, to their Japanese customers as well as to all foreign visitors who will come massively next year with the games in Tokyo.”

The partnership will enable travel brands to prepare for the Tokyo games as international tourism is set to more than double from 16 million in 2019 to 40 million in 2020. Airlines carrying foreign travellers to Japan will be able to offer alternative payment methods that are popular in the tourists’ home country. International travel brands looking to attract more Japanese customers will also be able to accept convenience store payments – by far the most popular form of payment in Japan.

“We are delighted to partner with VeriTrans and expand our eco-system with the most comprehensive range of payment methods in Japan. VeriTrans’ payment expertise in Japan, coupled with their strong relationships with Japanese issuing banks, make them the ideal local partner as we enter this new market,” says Kristian Gjerding, CEO of CellPoint Digital. “We look forward to developing our collaboration with VeriTrans, introducing new alternative forms of payment and eliminating payment friction for both Japanese citizens and international travellers in Japan.”

SOURCE CellPoint Digital