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In the world of online travel agents (OTAs), establishing trust in your brand is essential. Finding a reliable payments solution that could process international currency was vital for Airpaz to reach new markets where they were unknown.
Airpaz, based in Jakarta, is growing quickly. They deliver competitively priced flights and accommodation bookings in an instant for travelers across the world.
When competing with large OTAs, Chief Partnership Officer Wesley explains lower pricing is not enough; new businesses must convince customers they can be trusted. "Especially in a new market, PayPal is well known for security, and that gives our customers confidence."
Airpaz's main challenge to expansion into new markets was adapting, or localizing, their page to each country it rolled out to. That meant providing domestic payment methods and currencies wherever possible. Wesley says their expansion to Europe and Australia was made easier due to PayPal's reputable brand and the ability to handle over 135 currencies.
They chose PayPal for its customer base, it's one of the most trusted wallet platforms, and customers can rely on it wherever they are. "Our customers are travelers so sometimes they have very limited options to pay in their local currency," says Wesley. "PayPal offers them a solution which is extremely beneficial to us, the business owner, and to the customer."
While Airpaz does offer other payment options, Wesley says no other platform comes with the user base (up to 400 million) and buyer confidence of PayPal.
"PayPal is a very reliable payment provider with a variety of products that can support our business.”
PayPal has had a massive effect on conversion rates. This is because, as Wesley tells us, when customers see PayPal as a payment option, they feel more confident in making a purchase. Especially when you're in another country.
Wesley says that the ability to accept a diverse range of currencies has improved their payment success by 23%. "We have customers from parts of the world where some payment gateways won't accept certain cards. PayPal's success rate is high, and with Seller Protection1, we know we may be protected from fraud."
When you trade internationally, cross-border fees and settlement are always big issues. PayPal helps by storing the original currency that customers paid.
"We can store a lot of currencies in a single wallet," says Wesley. With PayPal, Airpaz streamlined its payment processes—minimizing the need for withdrawals and currency conversions when accepting payments and paying vendors.
Wesley recommends PayPal to other business owners looking to reach new markets, telling us, "With so many tools and how good the tech is, we have found PayPal to be very user-friendly and helps us manage worldwide funds. It's easy to use for both business owners and the customer."
Download the full case study here.