Weather the Storm: How Weatherplus™ Is Changing What Travel Businesses Can Offer at Checkout

Every travel business knows the feeling. A customer hesitates at checkout; not because the destination isn't perfect, or the price isn't right, but because they're staring at a TV report or a long-range forecast and quietly wondering: what if it rains or storms? That moment of doubt costs the industry billions every year in abandoned bookings, last-minute cancellations, and the kind of post-trip disappointment that never makes it into a five-star review.

 Patrick Curtis  -  an insight from our partner Simple Refunds 

The Ski World Is Crying Out for Refund Protection.  After a few weeks on the slopes, filled with burnt noses, questionable après-ski decisions, and more mountain beers than anyone planned, one question kept coming up again and again: What actually happens when something goes wrong before we get here? Not hypothetically. In real life. Because on a ski trip, things do go wrong. And more often than people expect their travel supplier to provide the answer. Read on to learn the hidden risk behind every ski holiday

Axcess Payments Group Refundplus™, the first fully gateway integrated refund protection solution that turns refunds from a cost centre into a new revenue stream for merchants trading across travel, events, hospitality and ticketing.  

Fresh off the plane from Cyprus and still sporting a bit of sunburn, I wanted to share some reflections from this year’s IFX Expo. The event offered a great balance between meaningful networking and focused business discussions.

Recurring payments have become a key feature for businesses offering subscription-based services or memberships. Whether you're operating a streaming service, a gym, or a SaaS platform, ensuring seamless and secure recurring billing is essential to maintaining customer satisfaction and steady revenue. However, handling recurring payments requires compliance with card scheme regulations and best practices to avoid chargebacks, failed transactions, and disputes.

In today’s fast-paced digital economy, an efficient and reliable payment system is crucial for businesses striving to meet customer expectations and stay competitive. For UK-based merchants, evaluating your current payment system is not only a smart move—it’s essential to ensure your business operates smoothly, securely, and cost-effectively.

The travel industry can handle a little turbulence, but the checkout experience is one area where smooth sailing truly matters. Travellers expect booking a trip to be a seamless step in their journey, not a source of frustration.

In the dynamic landscape of online payments, fraud prevention is critical to retaining your customers' trust, your company’s financial health, and the ability to continue acceptance of card payments.

Digital wallets offer several benefits to the payments industry, including improved user convenience, enhanced security, integration with loyalty programs or reward systems directly within the wallet, and increased conversion rates. How do you think digital wallets might evolve in the coming years?

An Account Funding Transaction (AFT) is a specific type of transaction used to add money into an account.

• Prepaid cards
• Digital wallets
• Brokerage accounts
• New bank accounts

E-commerce payments are evolving rapidly, and merchants and consumers alike are demanding enhanced customer experiences, improved security, and greater efficiency. To stay competitive in this landscape, the key lies in effectively using and analysing the data at your disposal.

As the holiday shopping season approaches, Black Friday remains a pivotal event for online retailers in the UK. This annual shopping extravaganza not only marks the beginning of the festive shopping season but also serves as a litmus test for the e-commerce landscape. With a staggering £9 billion spent during Black Friday 2023 alone, it’s evident that the stakes are high for businesses looking to maximise their sales during this critical period.

If your business processes card payments, you’ve likely come across declined transactions.
One of the more frustrating decline messages is “Do Not Honour.” This and other decline reason codes are crucial for understanding why a transaction wasn’t successful, but they often leave both merchants and customers confused.

In today's competitive market, it's standard practice for merchants to build redundancy into their payment ecosystems by integrating multiple payment options or acquirers. This approach not only shields your business from the ever-changing appetites of individual acquirers but also allows you to operate seamlessly across multiple markets. By leveraging a range of acquirers, you can maximise new capabilities and ensure continuity.

In the dynamic realm of eCommerce, fraud continues to evolve, presenting a significant threat to online merchants. As digital transactions increase, so do the tactics employed by fraudsters to exploit weaknesses in payment systems. For eCommerce merchants, understanding the various types of fraud and implementing robust countermeasures is crucial to protecting your business and maintaining customer trust.

In the previous blog, we discussed the extensive impact of fraud on the travel industry. If you would like to read up what was discussed in our previous blog you can do so by clicking here. In this second part of our series, we will explore the common types of fraud that plague the travel industry and effective strategies to prevent them.

Fraud has a significant impact on the travel industry, affecting both businesses and travellers alike. For businesses, fraud can result in financial losses, damage to reputation, and increased operational costs to prevent future occurrences. Travellers may experience identity theft, unauthorised charges, or even booking scams, leading to frustration and distrust in the industry. It is crucial for travel businesses to implement robust security measures and for travellers to stay vigilant and verify the legitimacy of their bookings to combat fraud effectively.