Maximize merchant fees by eliminating middlemen
Participated in ‘2023 Tourism Global Challenge Y&Bridge’ hosted by Y&Archer and received various support
There is a popular payment card that has gained popularity as international travel routes begin to reopen after being blocked due to the spread of COVID-19.
It's the 'Travel Pay Recharge Card' from the startup Travel Wallet.
Travel Wallet offers a service through its mobile application or physical card, 'Travel Pay,' allowing currency exchange in 38 countries and payment at over 100 million Visa offline and online merchants worldwide.
When exchanging currencies, USD, EUR, and JPY can be exchanged for free, while other currencies can be exchanged with a commission ranging from 0.5% to 2.5%, the lowest level in Korea. There are no fees for overseas payments.
This card is tailored for travelers who want to avoid the burden of fees after using credit cards abroad.
In particular, Travel Wallet has recently become popular among people in their 20s and 30s because it allows them to use foreign currency right away without having to go to a bank or currency exchange office.
The Travel Pay card, which surpassed 1 million issued cards in February, recorded 2 million cards in June and 2.6 million cards in August.
The annual payment amount, which was only 9.4 billion won in 2021, jumped to 210 billion won last year.
This year, transactions worth 590 billion won were made in the first half of the year alone.
Kim Hyeong-woo, CEO of Travel Wallet, said, “At first, we launched it targeting specific groups such as international students and travel YouTubers, but it has grown rapidly even without any special marketing.”
Travel Wallet raises revenue from merchant fees.
Numerous intermediaries involved in existing overseas card payments, such as local banks, American banks, and acquirers, were made to go through only Visa.
The company handles card issuance and foreign exchange settlement directly.
CEO Kim said, “By simplifying the payment process, we have dramatically saved costs incurred by other businesses.”
"This is why even if we apply merchant fees at the average level of credit card companies, Travel Wallet takes a larger share than traditional card companies.“
Unlike the early days of the business, now card companies are reaching out.
Last July, they launched ‘Travel N Loca’ with Lotte Card, and ‘Travel Wallet Woori Card’ with Woori Card in August.
While the original Travel Wallet card is a debit card, card company collaboration products are credit cards, allowing even more flexible payments.
In addition, they partnered with securities firms.
Travel Wallet signed a business agreement (MOU) with Shinhan Investment & Securities last month regarding the promotion of an open platform based on cloud technology.
Through this agreement, both companies plan to introduce various solutions on the open platform, such as allowing investors to use remaining money after overseas investments for activities like overseas travel, foreign currency payments, and overseas remittances, and investing in projects to improve the outdated global payment infrastructure.
To take a step forward into the overseas market, Travel Wallet also knocked on the door of the ‘2023 Tourism Global Challenge Y&Bridge’ hosted by global accelerator Y&Archer earlier this year and was finally selected.
They received a variety of support necessary for attracting investment and advancing overseas, including IR consulting to strengthen investment capabilities, prototype product and service testing and data evaluation with overseas consumers and experts in the field, market verification testing, and showcases by inviting overseas organizations.
Kim Hyeong-woo, CEO of Travel Wallet, said, "In the first half of this year, we launched the world's first cloud-based global payment processing service with Visa,“
“Based on this, we plan to supply various cloud-based financial solutions at home and abroad, including domestic payments, account-based wallet services, deposits and withdrawals, and asset management.”
저작권자 ⓒ 강소기업뉴스 무단전재 및 재배포 금지