AMEX has been pushing the boundaries of innovation by working with airlines, airports and passengers to understand what innovations are truly effective. Helen Grace, vice president foreign exchange service EMEA: “It is important to us to keep within the market and to keep finding something unique to offer passengers who want something that they cannot find on the High Street.”
AMEX has ambitious plans for the coming year. “Our business is growing, which gives us more room to invest into new airports,” said Helen Grace, vice president foreign exchange service EMEA, AMEX.
AMEX has been pushing the boundaries of innovation by working with airlines, airports and passengers to understand what innovations are truly effective. Grace said: “It is important to us to keep within the market and to keep finding something unique to offer passengers who want something that they cannot find on the High Street.”
Incorporating the support of the airlines and airports, AMEX and BAA created a deal in which passengers were given a brochure detailing AMEXs services, including back ups and up front deals. Once in the arrivals terminal, staff direct passengers to the AMEX stand. Airlines benefit as they are providing a customer service, and it provides for passengers who didn’t have time before boarding the flight to buy their foreign currency.
Grace said: “The airports struggle for business in arrivals and are always looking to market stronger retail and this was a way to target those passengers. It really is a great way of doing it for everyone.”
Using passengers’ mobile phones, a texting service, in partnership with airlines, is due for implementation in Q1 2008. The scheme gives passengers the option to order their foreign currency at favourable rates when they book their flight. “We want the passenger to come and see us at the airport. We are still reviewing the best times to send the message ahead of flight time and a few other details, but we plan to go one step at a time. We are interested in talking to any operators,” said Grace.
AMEX has also developed a scheme, which gathers non-personal information – destination and required currency, for example – from the passenger at the point of sale. This enables a better understanding of passenger movements and penetration levels for the provider and the airport, and allows passengers to receive tailor made currencies.
Online ordering has been a successful venture for ICE. Paul Glossop, director of retail development, ICE: “We continue to grow our online business and believe we are gaining a significant market share from more traditional markets, such as travel agents.”
Online ordering success
Online ordering has been a successful venture for ICE. Paul Glossop, director of retail development, ICE, said: “We continue to grow our online business and believe we are gaining a significant market share from more traditional markets, such as travel agents. Unlike many of our competitors, we deliver the next working day straight to your front door.”
ICE’s FX ATMs are dispensing larger amounts without significantly impacting on traditional FX revenues. FX4U from AMEX is a new online ordering scheme that enables passengers to pick up their currency at the airport in a shorter time and Travelex has re-launched its pre-order service, with Travelex.co.uk giving passengers the chance to secure their exchange rate in advance. Further, Travelex is using the internet to be an exclusive provider of the Cash Passport card online in the UK, which is accepted by merchants worldwide and can be used to withdraw cash 24 hours a day from ATMs.
Travelex: Terminal 5
Travelex is introducing the first Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC) through ATMs in the UK. Hudson said: “We are proud to be the first in the UK to offer this revolutionary technology.”
The DCC offers foreign travellers the opportunity to see how much they will receive in their home currency and gives them the opportunity to stick to their own currency. Working in partnership with the three major worldwide card schemes – Visa, MasterCard and Link – Travelex is the only FX provider to have the ability to dispense three different currencies from an ATM. 55 such ATMs are located throughout the UK at various airports, including London Heathrow and Manchester.
Travelex will also be unveiling its services at the opening of London Heathrow’s Terminal 5. “Travelex has an unrivalled presence at T5, including 11 retail shops, two ATM rooms, the largest HM Customs VAT Desk in Heathrow, a Banking room for Concessionaire banking and a BA Crew Unit,” said Hudson.
