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BTA to consult on TMC pricing models
'Best thing since the spreadsheet'
A consultation on TMC fees by The Business Travel Association has been brought forward due to the impact of Covid-19 on the business travel sector. Originally planned for 2021, the consultation is now taking place this autumn. The BTA has partnered with industry consultants Nina & Pinta to develop a white paper exploring approaches to three TMC models: transaction fees, subscription fees and management fees. It will be consulting with the TMC and corporate travel buyer communities on each model to develop new industry standards. Clive Wratten, CEO of the BTA, said: “The impact of Covid-19 on our industry has made this consultation more vital than ever, and the BTA is committed to leading the industry with this catalyst for positive change.”
Tripactions has innovated its travel and expense management platform, TripActions Liquid, billing it as “the best thing to happen to finance since the spreadsheet”. The TMC says machine learning and AI-driven automation will put an end to the hassles and compromises from out-dated, legacy expensing tools, including the “dreaded expense report”. Auto-approval technology means managers only need to focus on approvals for flagged transactions. “There isn’t a single person who likes expenses, expense management or expense reports,” said Jim Lundy, Founder, CEO & Lead Analyst, Aragon Research “The concept of expenses, conceived decades ago, is no longer relevant today given advancements in business, technology and user experience." The product has been launched in the US and is set to be rolled out in Europe later this year or in early 2021.
bookers, buyers, arrangers and managers
Amex GBT buys technology start-up
September 14-15, 2021 Hilton London Bankside
TheBusinessTravel Conference.com For exhibition enquiries contact Kirsty.Hicks@bmipublishing.co.uk
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BCD Travel has confirmed that 3,000 jobs could go at the TMC due to a downturn in transactions and said: "like so many other companies in the travel industry we will emerge as a smaller organisation coming out of the pandemic."
American Express Global Business Travel has acquired 30SecondsToFly, a technology start-up specialising in artificial intelligence and messaging for business travel. The deal will see the start-up’s AI developers join GBT’s growing technology team. The firm's technology allows users to book travel through a virtual assistant, called Claire, on Facebook Messenger, Slack, Skype and SMS and will be incorporated into the Amex GBT Mobile App and Apple Business Chat over the coming months.
10/26/20 06:28 PM
