WeTravel, a fintech startup and a payment and booking platform for travel companies and trip organizers, is launching WeTravel Card, the first prepaid credit card available for all travel operators in the US. Using the card, they can tap into the funds and pay their vendors, without having to transfer the money to a separate bank account first which would normally take about 3 days on average.
The brand new WeTravel Card enables online and over the phone payments anywhere where Visa® is accepted, without the actual need for a physical card. Now, WeTravel users can enjoy real-time access to any funds collected on the WeTravel balance by a simple transfer to their card within seconds, instead of waiting for days for bank payouts.
Started in 2016 by three immigrants, Garib Mehdiyev, Johannes Köppel, and Zaky Prabowo, originally from Azerbaijan, Indonesia and Switzerland, WeTravel came out of UC Berkeley’s SkyDeck accelerator. WeTravel’s online payment platform that helps small travel companies transition from paper-based and traditional finances, communication and marketing to digital excellence fit for today’s modern travel industry. Travel companies create elegant booking pages in minutes to collect deposits, set automatic payment plans, and manage financials securely from all over the world.
WeTravel platform has been used for a wide variety of trips, such as yoga retreats, student trips, bachelorette trips, dance trips, company retreats or sports team travel. Its website allows organizers to create a beautiful website for their trip in minutes.
Today, WeTravel offers a wide variety of digital services for travel operators including the creation of booking pages, payment collection, payment plans, booking management and now – the WeTravel prepaid credit card.
An approved WeTravel user can create a WeTravel Card in no time for free and without any application procedure. While using the card, travel operators do not have to pay for any monthly, sign-up, or annual fees. Moreover, they can pay vendors overseas without any foreign transaction fees. In case a payment is made in a currency other than USD, the merchant will be paid in their local currency.
“For multi-day travel companies that already collect payments and manage bookings with WeTravel, paying their vendors directly from the platform is the natural next step. Using this brand-new card, our users can now easily pay vendors the moment they make a sale,” CEO and Co-founder WeTravel Johannes Koeppel said.
The card has successfully been tested by selected users for the last couple of months. “With WeTravel Card, the funds from our tours are at our fingertips. Once my clients purchase their trips on WeTravel, we are able to pay our suppliers and agents immediately,” said Nicolette Stuart, Managing Director of Rockjumper Birding, a birdwatching tour operator offering scheduled and tailor-made trips all over the world.
WeTravel is offering virtual cards to all users today, while physical cards will start shipping in the coming months. Approved existing and new WeTravel users will have access to WeTravel Card beginning October 31, 2019.
