Ai Video: Getting corporate structure right for FFPs
Interview with Nik Laming, Airline Loyalty Consultant
Boundaries of airline #loyaltyprograms are being pushed and they are shaping up to become substantial #data, media and digital businesses.
They are also leading the way when it comes to working out apt structure and governance to best serve members, partners, shareholders, and parent airline.
"The future is bright for airline loyalty businesses that are set-up, structured and managed for success. #Digital disruptors are prospering under more realistic business conditions presenting opportunities for airline #loyalty programs which come with a rich and well affiliated member base, broad digital marketing channels, low cost base and a strong underlying business model," Nik told Ai's Ritesh Gupta in an interview.
Banking on exclusivity and experiential benefits for loyalty
A footwear brand rewarding its loyalty program members for being active, and offering access to music, option to sample new workouts etc. in addition to exclusive members-only products or a travel brand enabling one to earn loyalty currency for walking the dog, cycling to work etc. are in the ways in which loyalty is evolving.
Today brands are looking at human and #digital moments that matter most along the customer journey, and also being an integral part of one's lifestyle. The loyalty proposition is drifting away from the transactional aspect. Focus is on experiences. The objective is work on a proposition that revolves around members' personal interests and preferences.
So how can #airlines gear up for the same in 2020?
"Experience is paramount," says Scott Robinson, VP of Loyalty Design and Strategy, Bond Brand Loyalty when one refers to drivers of customer engagement in the loyalty space.
Curbing loyalty fraud with machine learning
Airlines are looking at ways to curb illegitimate access to a member's loyalty account and resulting imbalance in a member’s spending or reward activity owing to #hacking.
Considering the fact that demand for stolen loyalty currency among the fraudsters or in marketplaces on the dark web is on the rise, the role of machine learning in monitoring high-risk behaviour at account access, purchase and #redemption of #points/ #miles is coming to the fore.
Is the 21/20/20 target for NDC feasible?
IATA’s NDC standard is under constant scrutiny – how far it has come and how far it still has to go?
This week, as shared by IATA, the name of five airlines emerged - American Airlines, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Lufthansa and Swiss International Air Lines. These airlines have demonstrated that their NDC deployments have a set of recognized capabilities to drive volumes of NDC transactions that will contribute toward their 20% target by end of 2020. In all, 21 airlines have committed that by the end of 2020, 20% of their indirect sales will be made using NDC.
There are several ways to market with NDC, but it is the role of GDS that is being analysed. And it could very well be the deciding factor in assessing how close airlines (especially with a majority of these carriers being full service ones) are to meeting the 21/20/20 target.
“GDSs are critical to the adoption of NDC,” stated Ian Tunnacliffe, who presented at the recently held Mega Event Asia Pacific (#MegaAPAC) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Is the 21/20/20 target feasible? This is a critical landmark for sure. As Tunnacliffe says, “If that happens (meeting the target) then NDC will definitely have arrived.”
“Don’t target BMW of machine learning when you start with personalization”
How can #data make a loyal traveller feel more valued? Where do airlines stand in the journey of #personalization and in delighting their passengers by recognizing them, plus anticipating and delivering what they are looking for?
No denying that passenger loyalty has become an ever more complex discipline, especially with travellers expecting something more than just a transactional relationship. Airlines have no option, but to live up to such expectations. There is no reason why airlines should be lagging behind the likes of Facebook and other tech companies when one thinks of personalization, asserts airline loyalty and big data expert, Mark Ross-Smith.
#MegaAPAC
Ai Video: Curbing loyalty fraud with aplomb
Airlines need to proactively monitor their loyal shoppers’ membership accounts since the problem of loyalty fraud is on the rise. If on one hand airlines are offering more earning and redemption choices than ever, it also means that the overall loyalty earning and burning lifecycle has opened new avenues for fraud.
“From a loyalty fraud standpoint, there is a lot of demand (for stolen loyalty currency among the fraudsters or in a marketplace on the dark web),” says Kevin Lee, Trust & Safety Architect, Sift.
Ai Video: Countering mobile commerce fraud via continuous authentication
It is imperative for travel e-commerce companies to be ready for bots, emulators, malware etc. and be precise with their fraud prevention plan.
As a specialist in behavioral biometrics, SecuredTouch asserts that the days of static biometric techniques are numbered. Rather merchants now need to dwell upon continuous authentication that features device intelligence, behavioral anomalies. All of this becomes even more important as mobile-related fraud is on the rise, and the behaviour of consumers when they shop via mobile and what makes such devices risky needs to be ascertained.
Learning from mobile shopping in China
Mobile consumption patterns in general remain very exciting in China.
Ecosystems facilitate various daily activities and shopping requirements in a seamless manner. So a user doesn’t easily drop out from an ecosystem. The likes of Tencent and Alibaba continue to make rapid strides. There is plenty to learn from such extreme form of platform economies.
“They (Chinese companies and consumers) aren’t afraid of testing and embracing new concepts,” says Laurie Gablehouse, Global Head of Travel Solutions, Ingenico ePayments.
Indeed, as Laurie pointed out, Chinese consumers are more likely to adapt to technological innovations than travellers or consumers from other countries, say from Europe. China is shaping consumptions patterns of global relevance.
The retail shopping/ experience on mobile has moved faster than the counterpart from the travel sector since the delivery of the product is different. “How has that crossed over into travel is still evolving,” said Laurie.
Capitalizing on ‘APIzation’ of bank accounts
The development around sharing of banking (customer) data and make it available to non-bank third parties via APIs is being followed closely. As pointed by Edgar, Dunn & Company, one main aspect of EU’s landmark payments regulation, PSD2, is ‘access to accounts’ – this is effectively the ‘APIzation’ of bank accounts. Open APIs play a vital part at the heart of PSD2 compliance and open banking.
With open banking, a new financial services ecosystem is set to emerge. Even as issues related to data privacy and security are being raised and discussed, there is no doubt that merchants need to focus on opportunities from their customers’ perspective.
Learning from data and curbing e-commerce fraud
E-commerce companies, including ones from the travel sector, are gradually focusing on deploying a multi-disciplinary approach, combining different technologies (including both supervised and unsupervised machine learning) to combat fraud.
Unsupervised models don’t have clearly labelled data, while supervised models do.
As a specialist, Nethone asserts that machine learning today is letting companies deal with fraud. For instance, friendly fraud by helping discover which aspects of customers’ behaviour and transactions designate friendly fraud.
Overall, favourable results come from the ability to experiment with various machine learning-based methods, trying variations on them and testing them with a variety of data sets. It is fascinating to assess how machine learning automates the extraction of known and unknown patterns from data.
How can airlines count on fintech for payment optimization?
Regulations like PSD2 are paving way for new services and faster payments.
#PSD2 or the payment services directive in Europe is being associated with a major change in payments and data protection, and it is expected to fundamentally change the value chain.
"PSD2 is opening up the (payment) industry, and breaking the monopoly of certain players on accepting payments," said Simon Eve, Head of Travel, Trustly.
Assessing the efficacy of flexible payments in travel
Installment #payments for #travel allow travellers to book instantly but pay for their trips over time through fixed payments each month.
“Flexible payments (as an option) have started to evolve (in travel) in the last couple of years, stepping up the conversion rate and drive new revenue (for merchants),” says Chris Stacey, VP, Business Development, Uplift. For instance, targeting travellers with modest disposable income and low credit scores, and letting them pay via this payment option.
The fintech company recently indicated that it is on track to exceed its goal of facilitating payments for one million customers in 2019.
Stacey, who spoke to Ai during the recently held ATPS in Brighton, UK, shared that Uplift settles with no changes to existing flow. “No impact to payment processing or revenue accounting workflows,” he mentioned.
