Tokyo, 14 January 2021
NTT DATA Hong Kong Limited (NTT DATA),a global IT innovator delivering technology-enabled services and payment solutions around the world, today announced their partnership with Conferma Pay, the world’s foremost provider of virtual payments technology.
Optimizing the payment experience for both guests and hotel staff has never been more relevant than today. Before the pandemic, streamlining payments for the hospitality industry was mainly about managing costs. Right now, safe, touchless experiences are a pre-requisite and a shared responsibility across the whole of corporate travel management. It has become crucial to reduce transactional friction from the guest experience as the travel industry moves into 2021 and towards recovery. Hotel guests demand contact-free payment solutions so they can travel with confidence.
NTT DATA and Conferma Pay have combined to ensure virtual payments reach hotels securely in a digital manner, completely removing the reliance on traditional paper-based methods such as faxing. Reception desks will now simply be directed to a digital billing portal when confirming rooms booked with virtual payments. This process automates the virtual card delivery, removing the need for manual offline chargebacks or lengthy payment instructions for both travel management companies and hotels, eliminating card exposure and tightening payment security. Hotel staff will no longer manually process payments or key card numbers into their merchant terminals. The check-in and check-out process is streamlined with a simplified, touchless experience.
Akihiro Ishizuka, Head of Global Payments & Services Division at NTT DATA said about the partnership: "Payment innovation has accelerated like never before, creating the opportunity for a more efficient and highly secure virtual payment model. Partnering with Conferma Pay is a step forward in our commitment to provide travellers with a frictionless payment experience during check-in. This new integration will streamline the process considerably by reducing manual rekeying of payment data.”
Kelly Cleeton, Senior Director, Global Business Development at Conferma Pay added: “The solution we developed with the help of NTT Data provides another layer of security and enhances the payment experience for our partner travel management companies and their clients. This also reduces any need to wait in hotel receptions for payments to be delivered and accepted, which is of significant importance today.
