Travel accommodation company Booking.com has created a new internal FinTech business unit to help facilitate better access to its global travel marketplace.
According to the company, its vision behind creating the new business unit is to further remove financial friction from the travel process and make buying and selling travel-related products and services easier for everyone.
The new team will be headed by Daniel Marovitz, who will become senior vice president of FinTech for Booking.com. Marovitz has led the firm’s payments products strategy since 2017 and brings over 20 years of experience in a range of sectors including banking and e-commerce.
Booking.com also claimed it intends to expand the unit to over 400 FinTech experts by the end of the year is aiming to develop new products that strengthen its position as the platform of choice for travel providers and businesses worldwide.
The company also mentioned the unit will function as an independent business unit with the company to bolster the economics of the marketplace for everyone involved, while also creating new revenue streams for the firm.
Marovitz said, “What sets us apart from some of the other major players in the e-commerce space, who essentially operate a collection of domestic business verticals around the world, is the truly international scope and scale of our business.Our Japanese accommodation partners regularly host guests from France, and vice versa.
“The combination of cross-border and cross-currency transactions is a pain point for the marketplace and therefore an opportunity for us. Markets have vastly different payment practices and methods and bridging the gap between these, helps ease friction and enhances the value we bring as a global intermediary.
“Travel is different from nearly every other corner of e-commerce, strictly because of the often massive time gap between financial commitment from a customer booking and the time they actually take their trip. Many people book and pay for their travel up to a year in advance, which creates cash flow friction for travellers and providers alike. We will work to find creative solutions to help our marketplace work more efficiently, flexibly and securely for all participants”
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