Travel Trends with Dan Christian
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Hosted by Dan Christian, this show features candid conversations with global travel leaders, startup founders, tourism boards, hospitality executives, and technology innovators. Together they explore the ideas, innovations, and strategies driving the next era of travel.
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Travel Trends with Dan Christian
Why Canada's Travel Industry Is Ready for a Payments Shake-Up with Mint Payments
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Payments can make or break a travel sale, yet much of the industry still treats them as behind-the-scenes infrastructure. In Company Spotlight, Dan sits down with Philip Hancock, Chief Commercial Officer at Mint Payments, as the company expands into Canada.
The conversation explores what it means to build a travel-first payment service provider, from collecting customer payments and managing risk to supporting supplier payouts. Philip explains why the payment experience has become a meaningful point of difference, especially when flights, hotels, and packages can look similar across multiple channels.
They also discuss what makes the Canadian market unique, including its mix of Commonwealth roots and U.S.-influenced payment habits. One of the biggest questions is who should act as merchant of record. Philip breaks down how controlling the payment can improve cash flow, simplify the customer journey, and strengthen the agency relationship, while also bringing greater responsibility when disputes arise.
From there, the episode turns to one of the industry's most painful topics: chargebacks, fraud, and the growing ease of one-click disputes. Philip shares how Mint Protect is designed to help agencies respond to claims, manage risk, and reduce potential losses.
The discussion also covers fast-moving payment trends, including pay by bank and buy now pay later, along with the importance of offering flexibility without overwhelming travelers at checkout. Finally, Dan and Philip look ahead to the future of AI in travel payments, proactive risk detection, and how payment data can reveal deeper insights into booking windows, demand shifts, and customer behavior.
Learn more at mintpayments.com.
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Welcome And Mint Payments Basics
SPEAKER_00Hello, everyone, and welcome to a live podcast recording of Travel Trends here in Toronto. I am thrilled to be joined by Philip Hancock, the Chief Commercial Officer of Mint Payments. Phil, welcome to Travel Trends. Great to have you with us.
SPEAKER_01Thanks, Dan. It is fantastic to be here in Toronto. It's uh great to meet you, um, very well known in the industry, and it's really good to uh speak to you about travel, speak to you about Mint, and talk to the travel industry in Canada.
SPEAKER_00Terrific. No, it's fantastic to have you here. I'm so glad that we were able to sit down in person like this because obviously Mint Payments launching in Canada is a significant development. And so let's actually start there. And just to give our listeners an overview of Mint Payments, what you guys do.
SPEAKER_01Okay, we are basically a payment service provider. So we provide um we talk about three parts of our business. We talk about collect, we talk about safeguard, and we talk about uh send. So on the on the collect side, quite traditional, we help um our travel merchants with taking payment from their customers. Uh traditionally that's credit card. We also do other payment methods, pay by bank and buy now pay letters. We have uh a safeguard product, which is called Mint Protect, which maybe we'll talk about later. And then we help with supply payments, which is a big side. So we're a payment service provider, 100% focused on the travel industry.
SPEAKER_00That's great. And obviously, people heard from the introduction Mint's been around since 2007, and it's quite staggering when um I got to know a bit more about Mint, is that you're doing 3.5 billion in annual transaction volume. We've got more than 2,000 merchants. So this is a very sizable business that's been around uh for nearly 20 years, and here you are now entering the Canadian market. So it's great to have you with us. And obviously, Toronto, this is home for me, and this is the commercial hub for business in Canada. Tell everyone what brings you to Canada and why you've decided to focus on this market.
Why Canada And Why Now
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so well, Mint's been around that long, but I think we've really been focused on the travel sector since around 2019. Uh good timing for us. We went when we really kind of doubled down on the on the travel sector. Um a couple of quiet years at the start. But we've um we're focused, we're both we're based in Sydney. Um, we have uh most of our a lot of customers in the Australian market. We moved into New Zealand market in about 2022. Um, and we've always had the aspiration to grow globally. Uh last year we opened uh in the UK and we have a sizable team based in London, and we were looking for the next step. And uh Canada was, you know, we looked at a few places, but it was really for us the obvious choice. Um the travel industries are similar, not exactly the same. There's obviously a lot of kind of cultural sharing, business, and and and uh wider. And uh look, we just like Canada, to be honest.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and I there's many reasons why I completely uh agree with you. One thing I actually wanted just to address at the beginning is you have such a lovely English accent, not an Australian accent. Both accents are great, but you are from the UK originally. I am and uh so for both of us, obviously I was born in the UK, uh as were you, and then you uh have been living in Australia for more than 25 years. I've been I lived in Australia, as I mentioned to you before, um we got a chance to start recording, and I love Australia. And I these are my favorite markets, the UK, Australia, and Canada. Half of our listeners, of course, are in the US, and obviously that's a massive market and drives a lot of the global travel business. But a lot of things we're gonna be talking about here on the podcast is the Canadian market and why it's having a moment. And um, you know, as we're recording this, the rendezvous conference has been on here in Toronto, uh Toronto Tech Week, and um, you know, you're here in a very kind of monumental week for Canadian tourism, and so it's a perfect time for you to be here to understand how significant the Canadian tourism market is. Um, but before we get into all of that, I think it would be interesting for our listeners to understand your backstory and how you got into this space because you actually, you know, you've got your MBA, you've you're very smart and you've uh obviously achieved a lot, but you also have a uh specific background in the travel industry. So help our listeners understand a little bit about uh who Phil is and how you ended up at Mint Payments.
Phil’s Career Across Travel Tech
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I'm I'm travel. I'm traveling straight out of uni. Um got a job in a travel agency. I was a travel agent for two to three years. I was not a great travel agent for two to three years. I worked in uh leisure travel, a bit of corporate. Um that was in the UK and then uh working for in the airline space. Um moved over to uh Sydney in in 2000, um, stayed in travel, worked in travel tech. So I've kind of done all four corners of the industry, worked GDS, worked airlines, Expedia, um, hotel beds. Um and how I came into Mint, uh it was uh COVID, I think is where I landed up. I was uh launching again at Good Timing a an OTA in the uh Australian market into 2019. So I was looking for a travel specialist payment provider and uh was talking to Mint, talking to the CEO Alex, um, and when we decided not to progress that that online travel agency, um they asked me to join the team there, and I have been there ever since. And you know, it it's interesting. I uh though I am travel travel, um, payments has has really kind of I've caught the bug and I understand the importance of it, and it's strangely enjoyable.
SPEAKER_00Well, and the interesting thing, I mean, I think the payments sector is probably the most misunderstood and least appreciated side of the travel industry, but actually it's where a lot of the uh conversions, you know, there's so many benefits to really understanding payments um in terms of not only increasing conversions, but also cash flow, paying suppliers. And so this is a conversation that most travel companies need to be having to reevaluate who their partners are and making big decisions around their uh profitability of their business. And merchants and so this for me, it was a spotlight episode I was really keen to have for all of those reasons. And I want to make sure that over the course of our conversation together, we cover a lot of those topics that would be of great interest to our listeners to better understand the payment space, understand what's unique about mint payments. I was speaking to my colleague uh about this beforehand, and he was highlighting to me about a lot of the work that Mint has done to really improve operational efficiency and achieve uh some big gains on the back end side. And I want to make sure that we clarify from your vantage point
Payments As A Service Differentiator
SPEAKER_00what that all means. But um, in terms of Mint being in the travel space and really specializing in travel, take us through a little bit of that journey in the last four or five years because there is an interesting parallel, not only in terms of travel trends starting post-pandemic, but also customer behavior changing substantially post-pandemic. And people used to put 100% payment up front. Now they like to do part payments, they like to put deposits down. And people have realized the value of money because, as you well know, prior to the pandemic, interest rates were at an all-time low, and then all of a sudden, interest rates you know shot through the roof, and people started to realize the value of money. And and and also they also got unfortunately burned by some travel brands during the pandemic that wouldn't refund. And so this industry has been under a lot more scrutiny. I know you guys do virtual credit cards and how you pay suppliers and trying to make sure that you know that everyone's gonna get paid in the right order. So this area has gone through a massive amount of change. So I would actually say you joined the industry at the right time because it was actually the you know on the other side of the pandemic as travel came back in a big way. So tell us about the last few years in travel for mint payments and really what makes your platform unique.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, without dwelling too much on the COVID, I think we've all heard enough about that. But the um but it it you're right, it it's made some significant changes to the industry. I think what we're what I've recognized, and I I'm kind of strangely passionate about payments, and strangely passionate about payments in travel, is that it uh how important it is to all the way through the customer journey. You know, it's not just the bit at the end where you you give the money after after the service has been provided. It's it's a differentiator on the service that you provide. You know, I d someone said to me at a travel agent the other day, being quite frank, he said, to be honest, a lot of the time I'm telling the same thing to on the same see it's on the same plane to the same place as the other guy. And what differentiates me is my service and how people pay is a large part of that. And something we probably from the in the travel sector forget is that customers are making large purchases, emotional purchases. You know, there's there's there's a trust issue that they're buying something they can't feel, they can't touch. Um it might just be that you know annual vacation, which is hard, you know, hard-earned, uh, it might be the bucket list um purchase. But they s when that you know they're passing over ten, twenty thousand dollars sometimes, how they pay and and that whether there's friction or whether they feel uncomfortable is incredibly important. So we we we really I don't know, we're in payments, but we do try to express on our on our customers, our partners, that it is more than just a bit of plumbing, uh a bit of wiring at the back um about the money. And I think you know, we if we look at what a a travel agent, travel consultant does, it's like a third of the time is spent making payments, taking payments, organizing payments, reconciling a payment. Um and that's time that could be spent growing the business, dealing with our customers. And it's it's not it's not fun work, it's not the fun bit of the industry. You know, you're not sitting there and talking to someone about uh you know organizing the honeymoon or sending the parents away to Europe, you know, we're talking about you know just trying to get that bank wreck happening. Um so that's where we really try to add value.
SPEAKER_00Well, and and just to dive into that a bit uh in a bit more detail, because as our listeners, travel agencies, travel advisors, tour operators um that are listening to this, obviously they're familiar with online payments, of course. But one of the things that's also unique about uh Mint and what you provide is in-person payments. You guys obviously do electronic fund transfers, um, you do the virtual cards as well. And then one of the things that is the part side of the business we don't like to talk about is chargebacks and fraud and those issues as well. And I know you guys have implemented Mint Protect, and you've got a big focus on B2B. And so just along those lines, as far as what uh are the reasons that already, given that you are in Australia, New Zealand, and you launched in the UK, and now obviously you we'll talk about Canada in a bit more detail. But given your current offering in those markets, what are the things that you have seen that are really resonating with travel companies that are choosing mint? And what is the kind of the standout features or functionality that uh is seeing people choose you over what else is in the marketplace?
SPEAKER_01I think there's probably kind of three main things um that bring people to mint. You know, the first one is just the service and the commercials, you know, we're we're always highly competitive. Uh, you know, we know that um there is, you know, it's it's a low margin business. Um taking that depends on the market somewhere between half percent, one and a half percent, two, three percent is a significant part of the revenue of business. So we need to keep that in mind. Um having the understanding the business is incredibly important, knowing the difference between a P and R and a ticketing time limit and those points, you you generally won't get that from your add-ins and your body cards. Um so and then technology is is a key point. Uh we integrate a lot, so we we will actually work to integrate with mid-offices, uh, supplier restec, and because that's key. You know, there's too much what I often call the swivel chair API where people put them out the looking on one computer and then they're re-entering somewhere else. That's where all the inefficiencies and the accuracy and and even fraud sometimes. So having those integrations with the with the workflows and with the business um systems is key. Um and then it's just um new products um they're look looking to bring into the market. They want um buy now, pay later, they want um pay by bank, customers arking, or just things like junior Amex pay by points and having that and really understanding what motivates a travel buyer is key.
SPEAKER_00Well, it's one of the things that stood out to me, and one of the reasons I was keen to have this conversation with you, is that I know that the customer experience is what mint payments is primarily focused on. And obviously, this is an area that, you know, many companies talk about that, but when you look at existing travel brands, and I work with quite a few, especially on the advisory side of the business, that they have gone with whoever their bank had recommended as their payment solution provider. So it wasn't something that was given a lot of thought up front, and it's not until they have an issue or they realize there's certain things they can't reconcile that they need to start to look for a provider that really understands the travel industry. And so this is a huge vertical. Obviously, it's the third largest industry globally, um, the travel industry, more than you know, one out of 10 people work in this industry in Canada and globally, and it's expected to increase to you know um uh 12 to 15 percent over the next several years as more people not only embrace travel, more people work in our industry. And so I think this whole industry itself is still poised for a lot of um evolution than the payment side. And so you obviously you want to provide someone that is specializes in
Merchant Of Record Shift In Canada
SPEAKER_00travel. Um, but let's talk about a bit about the Canadian market, because I'm very keen to know as you you know had success in the markets you're operating in. Uh, remind us again what actually kind of inspired the move into Canada. And I've obviously I have a few um uh thoughts on that. Um but yeah, what what motivated the team to realize why Canada? Why now?
SPEAKER_01I think there's there's some more some of it more obvious. So you know, we're we're an English speaking uh country, largely we've got a really similar size, we're about the same population, we've got a similar demographic, so we're migrant countries. Um so there's a lot of kind of similarities. Our businesses practices are pretty much the same to a large degree, and our industry's crossover. There's a lot of people in who've worked in the Canadian industry, have worked in the Australian industry, the kind of clients we work with, the big suppliers are uh evident in both. Um there's a lot of Australian companies here and Canadian companies in in Australia. Um and but I think the other point is we've we've brought to those markets the Australia, but then the UK, which is probably gonna be our biggest market uh within a year or two, um, solutions to problems that we've had and we've addressed, and we feel that are still here, um, that we can bring. We're not gonna provide solutions to every problem there. Um we think Mint has some some strong value that that that can work in the Canadian market.
SPEAKER_00And the one thing I will highlight for all of our listeners, and I think this is really important, especially for our American listeners that are looking to uh market to Canadian consumers, uh, if you break down population demographics, uh the Canadian population is about a tenth, and Australia is about you know a fifteenth when we look at the size of the market. So there's more uh in terms of population, uh there's more Canadians than there are Australians, and there's you know nearly 10 times as many Americans. But the interesting thing for both Australians and Canadians is that we massively punch above our weight when it comes to travel. Yep. And so you know the American market may be 10 times the population, but it's more like only four times the market size. So when you're thinking about investing in North America, really one out of four or one out of five bookings that you're expecting to get is gonna come from Canada. And it's very similar, and Australia is even in a higher percentage, um, just given the fact that Australians are, you know, they carry uh passports and they travel internationally and they're avid travelers, as anyone who travels knows, you're gonna meet Australians when you go. You're gonna meet Kiwis, of course, from New Zealand, and Brits are great travelers too. And so there's a real commonality, I think, between those countries. But as we talk about Canada, given the influence of the US, and this is what I think is kind of unique about the Canadian market, is that we have the British heritage and roots, so you're absolutely right about those commonalities being part of the Commonwealth and um laws and government and those things. However, we are very influenced by the American market and the American customer experience, Americans will tend to pay with multiple credit cards. There's certain things that are really unique about the American market. Um, and I've seen this from my time working in travel agencies. Americans will call in and say, put $500 on this, put $1,500 on that. Most Canadians are more conservative by nature. They'll typically choose one payment method. But I'm very curious in the work that you did preparing for launching in Canada, what are some of the things that you've noticed that are different about the Canadian market from where you operate today?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and I I want to be really careful as a as a British guy who's living most of his career in Australia now, coming into Canada, coming also as an expert in Canada, because I'm not, but I'm we're learning quickly. Um yes, it's it it Canada is it's a it's a hybrid in in many ways. So there's a lot of cultural things that are similar, but the the uh the business and the payment kind of market is is very much influenced by the US. And it's most likely we will be getting business from the US and we we are already in the US, we we have operations there, we have customers there. Um I think probably the key difference is the the payment flow. Um the fact that a a large number of agents actually don't even take any payment directly, or they a large payment goes to the supplier and is coming back on commission. Now that's a a traditional I would say legacy, but it's uh it's a it's a more traditional way of the travel industry working. It's certainly the way that used to work in Australia, used to work in the UK. Um that they've changed. Um the the the agency sector has taken more control of payment, is uh now the merchant of record or or is the primary payment point for the majority, um, in leisure at least, of travel. And I think to that's surprising. I knew that was the case in the US. I presumed it was the case in Canada, you know, when we've been learning, not just this week, but you know, over the last year or so, um, about how dominant that is. Um and I but I think it's we'll try I think it's changing. I think there's a there's an impetus for that to change, and we'll work we work with both. So that's probably the the the key change for us, all the key difference, sorry.
SPEAKER_00Phil, it's interesting what you were saying there uh the differences between the Australian market, the Canadian market, and specifically this merchant of record when it comes to who controls the payment process. And in Australia, certainly the merchant of record is the travel agency that takes the booking. Over here, you have the suppliers as we were talking about that you end up booking directly with. They're the merchant of record. So one of the things I'm keen to know as you look at the Canadian market and you see what happens in other markets, do you think that merchant of record is going to be something that changes here in the next few years?
SPEAKER_01I do. And and let's be clear, I mean, the the that has evolved. Uh, it largely came out of the UK in the very much similar situation. I think we need to look at what the benefits are of being the merchant of record. Um, it allows you to, you know, it firstly it gives you control of the money. I mean, if so you it's in your hand rather than in your suppliers, and you're not waiting for for commission to be paid, you're not always chasing that. But it also gives you the ability to um package and bring bring the whole experience together. So you can you can sell multiple uh suppliers um and you're still the primary um conduit or the primary contact for that customer. You know, let's be honest, all agents want to they're all slightly concerned that they're gonna lose that customer to the supplier. And once they've got that card and once they've got that that those customer details, it's it's all kind of inevitable they're gonna have a lot more contact with your customer. So being a merchant of the record allows you to have um keep that primary relationship, uh, bring it all together. Customers, to be honest, they don't want to make five payments if they don't have to, if they're they've made the choice to deal with you. Um that they kind of want to pay you and and want to deal with you if there's a problem. So it it it's taking slightly up the food chain, it's allowing you to provide a greater service to your customers. Um and I think long term that will happen. And there's certainly uh agents I'm speaking to in in Canada that that want to go that that route and to focus more on on becoming the merchant of record rather than just uh a supplier conduit.
SPEAKER_00Are there any any other standouts so far for you um as you are rolling out to Canadian clients, given that you do have uh US clients as well, um, that have stood out to you that is particularly unique about the Canadian experience?
SPEAKER_01Um no, not I think that's that's probably the the driver. I think the um I mean destinations are different. The the um purchase I mean, we have a lot more crews, I think, out of Australia potentially than anywhere in the world, in fact, with the highest um buyers of crews per capita anywhere in the world. Um but I think the so there obviously there is a a more of a US influence on destination and and and kind of travel choice. Um But yeah, I mean uh there's I think there's more in common than than different. Um but we've just we've got to just be mindful of of those of those small differences.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. The one thing I'll and I'll say this for you, being a Canadian living in this market, is that you know, and there's an interesting bit of history here, of course, because the United Empire loyalists, the ones that actually stayed loyal to the crown that formed Canada, we have this difference in the US of peace, order, and good government versus life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. And so Canadians by definition are typically a little bit more conservative and therefore they're a little more risk adverse. And so they are going to, they're much more of the late majority in terms of um uh once you get into a market, there's a trust level and they see they have confidence, then Americans, that late, um the late majority is a herd that then moves in your direction. So this is one of the things that's exciting about the Canadian market is that once you get traction, once you get uh the adoption, you know, it's a much more significant growth over time. Um, but um Canadians need to know that their concerns are going to be addressed. And some of the things that Canadian uh travel companies we learn from the US is that where they will uh take a more innovative approach to things like um cancel for any reason or even the payment plans you described is that you know there'll be more experimentation in a market like the US. And once you find something that works, all of a sudden then Canadians will latch onto it as well, and then it will then hit this
Payment Options That Boost Conversion
SPEAKER_00market. So, on that topic, one of the things I wanted to make sure that we discussed is some of the opportunities for travel companies that are looking at their payment provider. And this is kind of opening up the question of you know, who do they currently work with? What are the things they need to be aware of? And that's where I'd like to love to get your take to help kind of educate and inform the Canadian uh travel industry about either kind of missed opportunities that. May not be realizing at the moment, ways that they could increase conversions. So, in terms of the whole payments experience, tell us a little bit some of the things that will help influence conversion, develop more trust, and ultimately one of the things that most travel companies are looking to is keep people coming back and lifetime customer value. What are some of the things that mint payments or the payment decision can really influence?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, good question. I think and but coming back to that period about the difference between the US and Canada, I think that it that is important. And but I think Australia fits more in the Canadian um experience, but maybe a little bit more innovative. But historically, I'm not sure it's a cultural thing, it's just probably what's happening in the business. Um one thing we have uh seen, and working in in the UK um over the last year, there's a lot more diversity in payment methods that's going. So we'll see um a lot less card penetration in in many markets where um either just standard bank transfer that's um is is used uh to a higher degree, but new new products, um obviously the wallets are important. I mean here is everywhere that Google pays and Apple pays. But the the pay by bank is becoming um a big mover in in globally. Um part of that's a reaction around around um credit card fees and merchant service fees. Um in some markets, Australia's just moved away for is moving away from surcharging, uh, which is that's driven a lot of people to who are happy to spend $25,000 on a cruise but don't want to spend you know $100 on a credit card fee. Um so they'll they'll uh use just a bank transfer. But the pay IDs, the pay by banks um are becoming more prevalent. Um the Binapy Leda schemes. Um I suppose I looked at when I first started looking at Binapy Leda, I looked at them as as credit of you know, if if you need to do an afterpayer or etc. You know, can you are you really our type of customer? Um but there is a generation that now are using those tools as their credit cards. It's the it's the method of choice. Um and you know, we have a partner zip in Australia and the US, um, which you can use up to $20,000 to use. So I think the different options there. Um and you know, people are paying later and they they want to um pay quicker, um, it's it's it's it's more innovative, you know, it's faster. Um but yeah, it's uh it's an interesting space.
SPEAKER_00So one thing I'm keen to ask you along these lines, and when I was at the travel corporation, and it was obviously there for many years, one of the things we were always trying to improve upon is uh the online booking process and the different payment options, and so there was a big focus towards increasing the number of ways that people could pay. And so obviously that was Apple Pay, Ali Pay, um, and um, but it also was the buy now pay later. One of the things we also realized, though, is that travelers can get overwhelmed. So you give them all these options, and and again, the reason I asked this question is because I'm keen for our listeners to be able to glean some of those uh benefits from your perspective and what you've seen. Um, we know travelers want more flexibility. That's so they they want to have options to do pay by bank or credit card. But how do you do that in a way that doesn't overwhelm the traveler when they're all of a sudden there's so many different options and they're trying to figure out, wait a second, is it better to do a buy now, pay later? Is that a better payment plan? Is that like ultimately better for me and my financial situation? How do you help travelers navigate that so it's easy for them and it helps increase conversion, not negatively impact it?
SPEAKER_01I mean, uh a large part of that's about the UI, about the user experience, about where you put that in the payment flow. But I think that the key is is really understanding your your demographic, your customer base. I mean, and travel companies are generally really good at that. So, you know, we'll speak to guy uh companies that don't want Barnapellator, uh, but do want Amex payable points or they do want pay ID. So, I mean the the number one thing is is know your customers, speak to them, and be responsive. If people are uh saying they're asking for something, then obviously you you want it. Look at your competitors, and and you're right, don't overwhelm. So don't offer um the five different options. Ideally um you let people know what options are available even before they start the the payment journey, if it's an online experience or if it's just a a checkout experience, so they they can come ready uh with how they want to pay. So you give them that that information up front. Um and you know you you position the workflow in often the way you want them to pay. So you know, if you if you do want to use a non-card uh payment because it's it's more cost effective for you as a merchant, then don't bury it down the bottom um after you know you've got Visa and MasterCard up front, and then there's that. So you need to bus it's it's user experience and UI, I think it's really important.
SPEAKER_00Well, the other thing I wanted to ask you is where you're seeing the growth because you know it's one thing when uh all of a sudden there's a realization, well, we need Apple Pay because you know 2% are now using Apple Pay, but sometimes we rush to do things when it's like 0.001% and it doesn't necessarily move the needle. So what I wanted to ask you as far as the various payment method methods that you've highlighted, what is growing fastest? And the one thing I just want to add to this for our listeners that I found this really fascinating, Douglas Quinby, who runs Arrival, when he was showing some of the stats of payments as it relates to the different demographics, the younger generation who we knew certainly with Kentiki and those brands, uh, were more likely to choose part payments because they could pay over time. And this would have been a long-standing um option for payments so that you could essentially a layaway plan. What was interesting though is that we've shifted between paying before your trip gradually to now actually taking the trip and paying gradually afterwards. But the amazing stat that he shared that um uh really shook me was the uh Coachella. He used the example of Coachella, and then obviously there's an incredible music festival in California. The tickets can be upwards of fifteen hundred dollars or two, thousand or more if you're booking them late. And it was nearly 70% of the people that booked tickets did a payment plan. Yeah. Because it and it makes sense when you think about you know someone in the young, you know, their early 20s or in their 20s, they're actually gonna make sure they go to Coachella, but they don't necessarily have $2,000 now to buy that ticket. So that's that to me stood out of if you're not offering a buy now pay later plan, you're gonna miss 70% of the market opportunity. So that's what I'm trying to share with our audience. So I'd love to hear from your vantage point, what are the most fast, fastest growing forms of payment?
SPEAKER_01Uh I want to be uh clarify that. I think look credit card is still the dominant form of payment, and it's it's in our market, in different markets, it's growing. Uh just only said it and that all depends on things like surcharging and and use. But if we come back to the binal pay later, I think we need to and I I had this thought and I was thinking well, it's a it's it's a credit product, it's people who can't afford. You know, you hear the stories of you know predatory lending and and young people putting um you know the the food budget on on binal pay later. I mean that's bad. But what I I failed to realize at the time was it's it's not that they need the credit, it's just the form of payment. They they have a they're just revolving payment in the same way as I don't really need the credit that I get on my credit card, but I use a credit card as a form of payment. Right. It's it's that point. So when it comes to that that demographic SKU, some of it, yes, might be they don't have a credit card. So this is their their option. But a lot of it's just this is how I'd like to pay, and I put it on that, and that's my habit. We're creatures
Chargebacks Fraud And Mint Protect
SPEAKER_01of habit. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, that's interesting. Oh, so another thing I want to explore with you, especially as it relates to the Canadian market, is risk and obviously the you know, cancellations, disputes, these things that you know, it's not until they come up. Um, and even this concept of merchant of record. Well, who is the merchant of record? And I've highlighted this before is that um everyone wants to be the merchant of record until there's a problem. Yeah, and then all of a sudden it's uh so one of the things I know you've introduced is Mint Protect. Um, tell us a little bit about the importance of that, how it works in practice, and how uh how important these types of options are becoming for for travelers.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I think risk and let's just say the word chargeback is is something that we we need to surface and we need to talk about probably more, um, particularly in times like now where there's a lot of cancellations happening. Um and being the merch of the record is is got a lot of benefits uh for cash flow and for control and supply relationships, but you know, there is a there is a flip side to that. Um you know you can get um a chargeback where a customer um decides that they don't want to pay for some reason. They they they the service they deliver got delivered doesn't meet their need, and we all know that that customer advocacy, to put it one way, is is becoming stronger. Um and so we you know we're seeing uh an increase in chargebacks in travel. Now the Australian market where we launched Brink Protect didn't have highly didn't really have chargebacks, we just they just didn't happen. But it is really starting to grow. Um and there's there's some of it which is is valid and some of it which is plainly fraud, where people are um what they call first person misuse, or someone will try to get a a chargeback, get the money back when there was absolutely nothing wrong with their travel. Sometimes um it's a m a matter of um degree because you want to they're unhappy with a part of their travel, but the way the chargeback system works, you have to redo the whole purchase. Right. Um so they'll land up um doing a whole ten thousand dollar uh tour when it was just one hotel. Um we're also seeing the uh the card issuers are making it very easy to do it to do a chargeback. And I understand why they're doing that, it's got good customer service, but also there's almost no friction. You can do a chargeback with one click. Um there's also very little uh um comeback if you're doing if you're claiming something maybe you shouldn't be. So the numbers are going up. Um so what Mint uh decided to do um particularly for travel agents is is provide a product called Mint Protect, which uh protects them. You know, this customers have got travel insurance, you know, they can you know offload that risk, but uh travel agents in particular are are vulnerable to the chargeback because you know say they're making the the 10% um when the chargeback happens, then they can be responsible for the hundred for 100% of the cost. When the revenue is only 10%, the profit margin can be two or three percent. So uh one one one bad chargeback um around supply delivery can wipe out a month's profit. You know, a supply failure can wipe out an agency. So what MIMPRTEX is uh uh does is it provides coverage in three areas. One is uh card fraud, um, and we also provide all the kind of tech tools to make sure that doesn't happen. Um supply failure. So we have a big insurance company that that ensures us to be able to provide that that service. Um probably the most important is uh the cases of supply and non-delivery. So that's where a chargeback has happened because of uh non-delivered or not described, I think the the terms that used. And we had a classic case recently where a family was traveling with Turkish Airlines to Europe. Um they lost their Pram at the airport, um, they missed their flight. Turkish by the the uh the terms and conditions of the ticket cancelled the P and R. They had to rebook all of their flights for the family, it costs twelve, thirteen thousand dollars. Um they did a chargeback. The c the card issuer said yeah, that's unreasonable, but the airline said no, and the agent had that to to wear that twelve thousand dollars. So what MIMPRTEC does is is we firstly we help um or we work with the the agency to to kind of fight fight the chargeback, but we take on responsibility. So we'll we'll do the work and and fight working with charge can take a lot of time, takes a lot of distraction of of of of a business. And if they're they lose the case, then we pay. So um it's a great tool. Um big companies have similar, but they have a lot of insurance behind it and there's a lot of work. Um, we do it with a small increase on the merchant service fee.
SPEAKER_00Well, I've certainly seen the stress involved in that and even the emotional toll that it takes on owners and agents when they're trying to salvage bookings, and you know, they do have those clients unfortunately from time to time, and it's the same in any industry, but obviously it's that much more uh disconcerting in travel when someone's booked and traveled, and then they, you know, there's a chargeback. Are they booked and not traveled? Are they booked and traveled? And where are if they have an issue, and then all of a sudden trying to fight a chargeback and having to deal with that is a lot of aggravation beyond just you know having had someone take a trip, have a great experience. This is the sort of thing that people don't focus on until it becomes an issue.
SPEAKER_01It's it it's incredibly emotional as well, because the the travelers generally you know get outraged, rightly or wrongly. Um the agent has put a lot of work in, you know, they really tried hard. And often in these cases, it's not it's not their fault. Even if it is a valid case, it was it was a supplier or a tour operator that that managed that tour, and but they're they're being held responsibly, they're being shouted at. Um and they need they what they need is a business like Mint to stand with them, provide them with technical and operational support and financial uh support as required.
SPEAKER_00Well, and I just wanted to talk about the liability and exposure, just um since you know when we think about the pandemic reality, STA Student Travel Alliance was one of uh the larger organizations that um that went under and and they took other partners with them because they had taken the funds and then their accounts were frozen and they went under, and it was a very difficult situation for a lot of different businesses. And obviously, as you mentioned, that could take an agency under if depending on their level of exposure. So help us understand you know, with chargebacks, but specifically the liability, like what is the exposure? Because I think many listeners to this like this sounds like a pretty good proposition to have Mint Protect someone actually fight this on your behalf, take the hassle out of it for you, and also know that this is not something that could um uh that could bring your agency down.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I mean if you're using Mint Protect and it it's uh it we're not insurance brokers, so it's not an insurance product. Um, it's a protection product, so we um you you'll pay more on your merch and service fee. Um but it's it's it's a a relatively small percentage of of that. Um and effectively we we become liable for those costs. So um it's a bit like uh a car accident. You know, we we require we we expect our merchant cell partners to kind of work with us on that case, but you know, if if if things don't work out as we we both plan, then uh we don't take the money from the the the merchant. So what generally happens with a chargeback is once a a card issuer or a card holder wants to do a chargeback, the card issuer will they do cursory checks now on whether or whether this is a valid uh claim. Um they will do a chargeback and then we are required to withdraw the money back from from the merchant from the uh merchant record from their bank account and hold on to it until the the case is uh work through. Often you've only got a couple of weeks. Um it takes a while to get to you, then you've got to provide a lot of evidence, um, which is hard to do and can take you know a day over a week or two days. Um and so what what we're doing there is is we're take we're not taking the money straight away, you know, because we're we don't take it because we're we're liable. Um so it yeah, it's uh it's uh it's important innovation. And um, you know, as I said, a lot a lot of the large companies do that in-house, or they'll do it with uh uh an insurance company. Um but it it takes a lot of time, it takes a lot of management effort to run something like that. Um we're providing that for the smaller businesses.
SPEAKER_00And the other thing you mentioned about commissions, obviously, we've been discussing
Supplier Payments Without The Chaos
SPEAKER_00that. Supplier payments is another area that uh travel agents need to um prioritize and focus on. So and I know two areas are preparing for our conversation. You know, supplier payments, commission collection uh are two of the most kind of underserved parts of travel. Um obviously there's been a lot of inefficiency there, and for a long time it's been kind of tolerated. Um, but as people start to look at the the flow and the process and the opportunities to improve, what does mint payments do on supplier payments that's interesting or unique to make sure that you can reconcile with suppliers? Um because obviously I've I always talk about this in terms of uh cash flow and making sure that you know a lot of uh tour operators, the business model for them is you know, they collect the cash, they hold on to that until they need to pay for the actual services, and there's an opportunity there for making money on both foreign exchange and then interest. So supplier payments, and it's always an issue as far as when you're gonna pay suppliers or making sure you're keeping your suppliers happy. So tell us a little bit about that and how that works on the platform.
SPEAKER_01So we have a it's it's a slightly currently a slightly different platform called Mint EFT in the Australian New Zealand market, and um suddenly we're doing something bringing something similar into the UK. And effectively it's uh it's a platform that a consultant um can initiate a payment. Um it can be integrated into the the mid office platform, so it can happen there from the um agent to the supplier, and what will happen is they can make you know in an agency 10 or 20 payments that day. At the end of the day, the payment is is withdrawn by us from their bank account and it's and it's distributed to all their suppliers. They both get a reconciliation report. So it's it's integrated, it means that a consultant doesn't have to have you know access to the online banking, doesn't have to have a company card, you know, the the accuracy, the the the error rate goes down. We have about a thousand agents on it in the Australian New Zealand market, um, about 120 big suppliers. Um there's about a couple uh a couple of billion dollars in in annual uh transfer. So it's it's it's a well-loved platform. Um and it's all about efficiency, it's all about security.
AI B2B Roadmap And Cleaner Ops
SPEAKER_00Um, one thing I want to get into in a moment is AI, and the reason I want to talk about that, obviously, not only is it because um it's what everyone wants to hear, um, every company is now being forced to uh highlight their AI strategy and be an AI-first organization, so that's commonly understood. But as a segue into that, I wanted to talk about Mint uh B2B and what your plans are around that because I was just uh recently at an executive offsite. Actually, it was at the arrival of Valencia conference, and the facilitator was talking about the fact he was just recently doing a off-site for a number of banks in the Middle East talking about AI and how panicked they are around how customer behavior is changing and what it means for all of their banks and the future of banks in a world where AI is, you know, taking over both the um the customer journey and the agentic AI with the tools that customers will now have access to. And so it's really forcing banks to reconsider their value proposition, the way they approach technology, even approaching fraud, of course, as well, because that's another big concern as these tools continue to roll out. So tell us a little bit about what your plans are for Mint B2B to make sure that you are modernizing and making sure that you are meeting, especially supplier payments is a good example, um, where they need to be today.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I think it's two questions there, because I think the the the Mint B2B is the plan is there, what we're building out right now is moving from a uh I just described that mint CFT, it's effectively a one market, one type of payment process. The technology is available now in in fintech to do instant global payments at almost no cost, um, whether that be a kind of uh a virtual uh business wallet, whether that be um virtual card, stripe stable coin, there's there's all these different opportunities. Um we we're we've got a network and we're at both ends, so we see a unique opportunity to um connect agents and suppliers, and that can be one way, it can also be the other with the commission. Um so they both get great visibility of where the payment is. It's quick, it's easy, it's fast, and it's cheap. Uh sounds like magic. Um but the reality is the tech's been there kind of for a while, it's just taking people to to plug it together. Um so I think that that's something that uh we're building now. 2027, you know, we see a big opportunity for that in the traveling scene, and that will be a global product. I think that's the that's the key thing. Um AI. Now we're like everyone else, we're you know, I'm a I'm uh I've probably got the same concerns everyone else about AI, but I'm a I'm a tech optimist. I use it a lot.
SPEAKER_00Um I just want to highlight to our listeners too that actually Phil's background, he was a developer with Ruby on Rails at one point. Like you have a technical background, definitely.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it took a couple of years out of travel to do that, thinking how hard is it? It's quite hard, yeah, is the answer. Um but yeah, so I'm I'm definitely that tech optimist, and and we as a business recognize you know that AI can do a lot of good stuff. And we're you know it's definitely true that a lot of the people are looking at the front end right now, and particularly people from outside of the travel industry, you know, how can travel, how can AI help people create great itineraries and and choose? But for me, the the the media opportunities is in that plumbing we talked about earlier, the back end is bang reconciliation, it's risk, you know, it's processing. Um that's what you know and and everyone well a lot of systems we've had up till now have had to have like really clean data and getting it organized. So you talk to businesses about why they don't make those changes, it's because the amount of pre-work they have to do to get their systems ready. Great thing about AI, it's designed to be to absorb that kind of fuzzy environment. So, yeah, it's gonna be important to us, and I'm sure it'll be important to our customers.
SPEAKER_00So, a question for you on this, because you know, everyone's talking about how AI is implement influencing uh the customer-facing side, and we've certainly seen that with how travelers are embracing AI planning tools. What's really interesting about that, you know, you look at a uh organization like Focus Right and Mike Coletta, who takes the lead on their AI analysis, and one of the reports that he had delivered just a couple of months ago, it highlighted that over the last three quarters, AI use for travel planning has gone from 30 to 40 to 56 percent. However, people are not booking through. AI because there's still a trust concern. And that's it's in the there will be a breakthrough at some point, and the dam may break where that confidence is there with Agentic AI that people will allow these tools to make bookings on their behalf. But obviously that's one of the holdups and trust is is key in that. But I see, and I think most of our listeners also know that most of the investment in AI has been in the back office and in automation. And so, you know, uh reconciliation is you mentioned any repetitive tasks that will likely disappear in the face of AI. The thing I'd love to ask you though is that if we think about being proactive, so trying to prevent disputes or those fraud issues or failed supplier payments, are there ways that you can leverage AI or planning to leverage AI that will be more proactive in nature to avoid actually having having to um deal with those negative outcomes?
SPEAKER_01It's a poignant question because um, you know, we we have them, we have um customer failure issues that are happening at the moment in in multiple markets at risk. So we've been spending a bit of time, and I've I was actually spent a couple of hours this morning looking at some data around some of our merchants and looking at how can we help them and understand or and and help us of the risk of of um you know merchant failure, but it's it's it's a similar piece around any customer. It's w what are the what are those telltales that happen um around a customer? You know, fraud is a is is becoming more prevalent, it's getting smarter, um, you know, we're people are getting you know kicking themselves later when you hear the stories of of how they got uh scammed. Um so systems that look great what AI is great at is looking for patents. Um and largely it's around that piece. So having a bit of a just watching you know your transaction flows, looking at uh booking experiments of number of you know people who have um cards that are being used multiple times, etc. So there are I think AI is this is uniquely suited to to that pace.
SPEAKER_00Well, something that always comes up when we talk about AI as data, and obviously the two go hand in hand. Um clean structured uh data is obviously uh essential for AI to function effectively, and as you mentioned, like being able to process mass amounts of data and be able to figure out patterns and signals. Um for our listeners that are also trying to figure out how clean their data actually is, um, how important is that from your point of view with this AI-driven future that we are now facing? And what should they be doing to make sure that they're in a good position to be able to optimize payments and all the information they're collecting on guests? Because the thing that excites me is when you can start to get a better understanding of traveler behavior and and who's booking what product at what value with how much lead time, all those things are incredibly important. As you mentioned, there's a lot of cancellations happening. Are they happening 30 days out, 60 days out? Are when people are booking, are they booking for you know six months from now or 12 months from now? How important is it to get an offer out for 2027 now versus do a sale for 2026? So I'd love to know. Obviously, it's kind of a bit of a two-part question, the importance of um how clean and structured the data is, but also the benefits of being able to leverage that data through a payment processing platform like like Mint.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. I think um cleaner is better when it comes to data, um, having structure and having normalizing it across pieces. But one of the great things about large language models and AI that we're using today is it's it is particularly good at dealing with messy data. Um so previously, change management uh processes we might want to put in place, people just never got to because the pre-work was too hard. Um great thing about AI is is surfacing that data is the most important thing, giving it context and providing it to those systems. Um so I I I would say you know, just try and get the data and and and look at it. Keep human in the loop. So now we're talking a lot more about AI than travel, but keep them in the loop. Don't don't you know it still it still hallucinates and you can uh make errors there. Um but you know payment providers uh it it is about um using if you're behind on your technology, if you if you're not automating, if you if you're not using a a good mid-office, if you're not using a payment provider which um you know provides you that access to that data, um you you you're kind of locked out. So I think it that that's the key point I think from me is is choose a choose a uh a partner that has that vision is on that is on that route already.
SPEAKER_00Well I'm keen so you mentioned partners. Obviously, I'm keen to discuss partnerships, but I also as far as how the industry is evolving. So there's kind of one last area I wanted to focus on for all of our listeners that I think will be really interesting and important. And it kind of goes back to where our conversation started, which is you know, from my vantage point, this is the most misunderstood and underrealized opportunity for most travel companies is to really understand their payment processing and make improvements for the sheer benefit initially of just increasing conversions and uh delighting their guests and then also their partners. Like it's just an integral part of running a successful business. But important is how it's integrated, especially with you know OTAs, um uh travel management companies, contractors, like payments sit really at the center of all this activity. And one of the things that payment companies have a really unique view of, and I know this from all the work that I've done with uh the payment at the credit card companies, to your point about the fact most people prefer to pay with credit cards. One of the things that, you know, when you work with Visa or MasterCard or American Express, all of a sudden you can undercover, um, you can better understand your own customers by them presenting back to you what they understand as the signals, especially because they have the vantage point of also understanding uh other customers for other travel businesses as to you. So not only do you have a, you know, they currently, the the view that they have will be limited to their customer set, but the view that Mint Payments has is across all the travel customers you have. So what I'm keen to know is how you can help your customers, you know, better uh advance their business and know where things are headed to be able to say things proactively to say, wait a second, we're seeing a trend here where people are using buy now paying later or people are using alternative forms of payment. Here are some of the things you need to be considering. So I I'd love to get your view on that as far as where we're headed in the payment space and where you think the opportunities are.
SPEAKER_01I think on on that use of data, you're absolutely right. As long as you know we very carefully protect our cardholders' data, the BII, you know, we have to normalize it and kind of hash it and make sure. But we we are we have got a lot of um intelligence, I suppose, or or information that we can provide our our customers. And you know, booking.com and XPD, they're talking to Vs and I said they're getting all of this. You know, they they use this uh to very fine detail. Um, you know, to to our customers, if you've got the right paper and service provider, talk to them. You know, we can provide you with a with broader range of in just about you, where you sit in the data set, where you sit in the competitors, um, lead times changing, etc. So we've a lot of data available. Um yeah, we're doing more in that space to provide more broader information. You've got to be careful, you know, there's a there's a security and there's a um you know, there's a lot of oversight on on data we have uh our head of risk is is very strong on what we are allowed to do. Um but yeah, I think the payments is is is under is not utilized strongly enough. You know, people in a lot of time looking in uh websites using the Google Analytics, um looking at the CRMs, you know, trying to use d demographics, but there's a this massive piece of data uh around payments. And yes, we can start to see you know some of the most payment providers now, the big ones uh who we partner with, something like 96% all of all cards will go through them once a year. So the the visibility is huge. Um bit scary, um, but but useful if if done right. So I think you know, work with a take payment seriously, put it up front, make it part of your your growth strategy rather than just um you know the way you take money at the end, it's money, it's a bit key, we don't really like to talk about it. Um it it's a way of serving your customers better, it's a way of growing your business, um, it's a way of improving the service that you you provide.
SPEAKER_00Well, and I'll just share this too, because I think it'll be interesting for our listeners, because one of the projects that I was responsible for for many years at the Travel Corporation was this concept of the 10-year wallet. And the uh the simple explanation of that was how do you make sure that you are meeting the customer um for all their travel needs over a 10-year span? And so building repeat business and having a better view of what other products you can put in front of the customer, and also increasing terms we'll use like basket size or like that, you know. Um and a good example of that too is travel insurance. You know, some companies they don't even necessarily know what good looks like in terms of you know, we 20% of their customers buy travel insurance. Is it 50%? Some companies might be 90%. So, you know, what does good look like? And obviously you have that vantage point. Um, so I think there's a lot here, and um, and I'm uh when we close in a moment, obviously I'm keen to make sure that our listeners know the reports and uh various other ways they can see you know what mint payments is tracking, other
Partnerships Contact Info And Closing
SPEAKER_00things they can learn. But before we do that, um partnerships. I really want to get into that, especially as we are focusing on the Canadian market and partnerships in the travel industry, relationships are important, um, as we all know. Partnerships are critical to success. And you know, you've got obviously got uh great infrastructure in place and existing partners when it comes to the Canadian market. Obviously, I'm assuming it's gonna be important for you when it comes to uh to partners, and I'm sure many people will reach out to you after listening to this podcast, but um, how important do you see them being here in the Canadian market? And when people are thinking about how they might reach out to you and to be able to collaborate with Mint, I'm keen for obviously make sure that people know how best to do that.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I mean the obvious answer is partnerships is super critical. Um I've I used to run partnerships for Mint before I uh did my current role, and and we've got uh partnership manager in north in um Australia, New Zealand, we have another one in the UK, and we'll we'll I'm sure we'll be employing one in North America soon. Um so something like 90% of our 95, I think it was percent of our transactions come through a partner, whether that be through a a consortium or a host agency, is it's probably called here, um, or it's a tech platform. So, you know, without them, we don't have a business. Um we it's how we distribute our products, it's how our customers uh interact with us um through the the trader group or or the technology provider. So you know how and we're as we enter a market, you know, I've spent the week I've been meeting um host agency groups, uh tech providers, um, both on the agency side and supplier side, and building those relationships, and that's how we will work. And I think that is probably that's something we understand at Mint about travel. You know, it's it's it's it's the way the business works.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, well, obviously, and any of our listeners understand those terms you mentioned about host agencies and consortia. It's interesting when you mentioned that because there is term terminology that is a little different in different markets. I'm learning. Yeah. And the host agencies is uh incredibly important to the North America market and the Canadian market. I mean, if you look at one example, travel agent next door, um, which is a 500 million plus, it was recently bought by travel counselors, my good friend Jeff Element, um uh is now the CO over there. And it just highlights just how big travel advisors are, the importance. And um, and so when you are now focusing on the Canadian market, I know you've been traveling across the country um on this trip, you've been in Vancouver and Calgary and Toronto. Um, what types of partners are you looking to collaborate with? What is kind of the, you know, as people are listening to this and saying, wait a second, I'm because we'll have advisors who are listening to this who are part of a host agency, and ultimately it's up to the host agency to make the decision um before it will cascade down to that travel advisor. And with travel agent next door, for example, I know that they review partners like every two years, and this is where sometimes our industry moves a bit more slowly than we'd want it to. Of course. So, what type of partners are you looking to collaborate with uh here in Canada as Mint travel grows?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I mean the the the three main groups are the host agencies, which it was a new when we started working in Canada, it was a new world, we can call them consortia or um something else in other markets, but essentially the the same same function. And you know, we spoke to we spoke to Jeff and um uh etc. and kind of uh talking to the different groups. So definitely the host agencies, but agents, you know, just reach out if they've got any questions for me, they want to know a bit more about mint. You know, sometimes it's good to a bottom-up approach when when building a business. Um tech providers, so we're again talking to those and they this is another thing that's got lots of different names, but I could I just generally call them mid offices, yeah so the agency, the agency platforms, um you know, the reserve X's and and uh trays, etc., of the world. And we and uh Travcom is actually a we're already a partner with Travcom. I know that's used quite a lot in this market. Um and um yeah, and supplies suppliers, I suppose just the the tour operators, etc., and wholesalers that uh we work with in in other markets, and a lot of those we already have relationships with, so it's about extending them to this market. Um but anyone that wants to talk to me?
SPEAKER_00Well, and obviously I mentioned the beginning, mintpayments.com. Uh obviously you are very active on LinkedIn as well, as I know. Um I do have five two final questions for you, but just on this topic, if people do want to reach out, what would be the best ways to do that with either you or the rest of the team?
SPEAKER_01Um send it to me. Um, you know, I'm happy that Philip.hancock's one L.hancock at mintpayments.com, or you can send it to many of the other ones, sales at mintpayments.com. I don't want it to th they often kind of get uh into some bucket somewhere, so send me an email. Um I'm on LinkedIn. Um and um yeah, just uh reach out. We've got um some guys on the ground here as well supporting us and teams in in Sydney and in London. Um so we'll make the time zone work um until we have the team grown in this market.
SPEAKER_00That's great. Let's fill up uh Phil's inbox. And so uh but two last questions for you. The one about the industry and one on more personal uh and travel and your plans is that if you could snap your fingers and overnight change one thing about how travel payments work globally, just out of curiosity, what what might that be?
SPEAKER_01Fraud probably is it's it just doesn't it that's it's crime, but um and it's it's it's a purely negative thing. It doesn't add any kind of funny. So if we can get rid of fraud, and I think it's one of those things that is now becoming more important in travel and we're getting better at it. So I think it's we're going through a bit of a uh a point at the moment where it's and but otherwise it's you know it sounds obvious from a payments person, but take payments, put it up front, think about it more, think about your how your customers um it's a gr it's a growth tool, not just a cost. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And I know you're gonna be spending a lot more time in Canada, and uh I love traveling to Australia, so either I'm gonna see you in Australia next or next time you're back across in Canada, and obviously our paths may cross at other global conferences as well, given the whole global profile of mint payments and everything you guys are working across. Um, given the focus on the Canadian market and the fact you're gonna be spending more time here now, and I don't want to exclude anybody, but I was just gonna rendezvous yesterday and from coast to coast to coast. Obviously, you've got the East Coast, you've got Quebec, Ontario, you've got the prairies, you've got British Columbia, Alberta, and now all of a sudden there's been a big focus. I asked a number of the executives on the event spotlight yesterday where they were gonna travel to next, and almost everyone said the Arctic. There was either Nunavut or Yukon or Northwest Territories. So, Phil, if um if we could send you somewhere else in Canada that you'd be keen to explore to enjoy an extra week next time you're across here for business, where might you be interested in going?
SPEAKER_01It's a loaded question. But um, I think look, been Australia, I've been to the West Coast a bit more. You know, it's it's more accessible, and Vancouver's a lovely city. Toronto is is is a real hub. Um and uh I spent some time in Calgary, which I haven't done before, which is nice. But I think for me it might be the Maritimes up in up in the northeast, up in uh you know, Prince Edward Island or or somewhere around there.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, my daughter's at school in Halifax at Dalhousie, and she loves the East Coast. My sister lives out there, and um, for a lot of people from the UK, they come to uh PEI in the summertime, uh Newfoundland, of course. So yeah, you definitely have to, and you're not gonna offend any Canadians by saying you need to go to the East Coast. If anyone that's the salt of the earth, those are you know, you definitely need to get out to the East Coast on a future trip.
SPEAKER_01It's a bit of a trek from Sydney, but I think it's it's where we want to take my family there. I think my wife and daughter would love it. So yeah.
SPEAKER_00No, that's great. You definitely need to add that for future plans. And so make sure when you're reaching out to Phil, give him a few suggestions of things he should do when he's on the East Coast of Canada, because as you all know, there's so many amazing gems to experience on the East Coast. Um, but Phil, it's been great getting this time. Obviously, I'm thrilled that you have decided to come to Canada and and we've made this time to get together live in person to be able to record this. Uh obviously, I wish you and the team every success with the launch and the rollout, and I look forward to keeping in touch. And thanks again for joining us for this special spotlight episode.
SPEAKER_01Thanks, Dan. It's great to be able to kind of talk to the sexy end of travel, the payment side. Um I've appreciated uh this time with you. Thank you. Awesome, thank you.
