TMC also commits to increasing investment in related technology
BCD Travel and Conferma, a provider of virtual card technology for business travel, announced an expansion of their partnership that, according to the companies, “will accelerate the integration of virtual payment solutions across the travel value chain and deliver greater automation, visibility and control for corporate travel programs.”
The expanded partnership, said the announcement, represents a shared investment commitment to enhance technology integration and co-develop new functionality tailored to BCD client needs — underscoring a shared commitment to driving value through seamless payment solutions.
BCD, according to the announcement, has also committed to increasing its investment internally in this area over the next few years, with a view to enabling new payment capabilities, promoting continued innovation and enhancing the travel experience for its global travel base.
As part of the partnership expansion, BCD will continue to broaden Conferma’s hotel payment automation capabilities, including their integrations to hotel property management systems. This also enables automatic invoice intake of virtual payment across BCD’s client ecosystem, streamlining reconciliation and reducing manual work for travelers and finance teams.
Yannis Karmis, senior vice president, product and development for BCD, said the expansion “marks an evolution in the payment landscape for managed travel.” By investing in this partnership, he said, “we’re furthering our commitment to building seamless, secure and scalable payment solutions that meet the evolving needs of our clients and the industry at large.”
Neil Fyfe, head of payment solutions for BCD, said the partnership will place a strong emphasis on the hotel segment, which is a critical component of many of the company’s clients’ travel programs. Thanks to an increased integration with BCD’s hotel partners, he said, “we’ve seen an increase in card acceptance and folio collection percentage rates, expanding the data integration directly into our spend management platform — simplifying reconciliation and enhancing insights for our clients.”
Jason Lalor, CEO of Conferma, said the partnership “reflects a shared vision to remove friction from business travel.” He added, “We’re bringing together world-class technology, scale and deep travel expertise to drive smarter, more efficient payment experiences across air, hotel and beyond.”
