U.K. FinTech giant Revolut has launched a payments partnership with Booking.com.
With this collaboration, customers of the travel platform can pay using Revolut Pay, the company’s one-click checkout tool, the companies said in a Monday (Nov. 17) news release.
“This partnership is a natural fit given the customer overlap between businesses, with approximately 9 million customers from Revolut’s global user base already having made purchases on Booking.com,” the release said.
“It marks a further commitment from Revolut into the travel industry as Booking.com becomes its largest travel partner to adopt Revolut Pay. This comes as the number of customers using Revolut Pay has continued to rise, now with almost 2 million monthly active users.”
By using Revolut Pay at checkout, customers can purchase their Booking.com accommodation, along with flights and car rentals in one click on the Revolut app after being redirected from Booking’s site. Travelers paying with Revolut Pay earn extra RevPoints — Revolut’s debit card loyalty program — on all purchases.
“Our strategy at Revolut is about meeting customers where they are,” said Alex Codina, general manager of acquiring at Revolut. “Given our customers’ passion for travel and the millions of users on Booking.com, this partnership is a natural fit for us. Integrating Revolut Pay means a faster, more secure, and ultimately more rewarding checkout experience for users.”
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The partnership is the latest in a series of travel-related moves by Revolut. Last month, the company acquired Swifty, a startup that offers an artificial intelligence-powered travel agent.
As covered here, the purchase means that Swifty’s technology will be integrated into Revolut’s loyalty program to add financial guidance and automate complex travel and lifestyle tasks.
Booking’s embrace of the Revolut app comes at a time when smartphones “have become the default way to pay for transportation,” as PYMNTS wrote last month.
Research by PYMNTS Intelligence shows that more than 7 in 10 American consumers prefer to buy local rides or transit tickets on mobile devices, while nearly 60% do so for long-distance trips and rental cars. The mobile-first pattern is more pronounced for travel purchases than for retail, dining, or grocery transactions.
Yet beneath those wider gains sits an unexpected connection between the youngest and oldest travelers, with considerable numbers of both Gen Z and baby boomer consumers still preferring to pay for trips using computers.
“Both groups appear to value the structure and perceived security of browser-based purchases,” PYMNTS wrote. “For boomers, that stems from habit; for Gen Z, it may simply reflect that laptops are already open for school or work.”
