ABA Banking Journal
No Result
View All Result
  • Topics
    • Ag Banking
    • Commercial Lending
    • Community Banking
    • Compliance and Risk
    • Cybersecurity
    • Economy
    • Human Resources
    • Insurance
    • Legal
    • Mortgage
    • Mutual Funds
    • Payments
    • Policy
    • Retail and Marketing
    • Tax and Accounting
    • Technology
    • Wealth Management
  • Newsbytes
  • Podcasts
  • Magazine
    • Subscribe
    • Advertise
    • Magazine Archive
    • Newsletter Archive
    • Podcast Archive
    • Sponsored Content Archive
SUBSCRIBE
ABA Banking Journal
  • Topics
    • Ag Banking
    • Commercial Lending
    • Community Banking
    • Compliance and Risk
    • Cybersecurity
    • Economy
    • Human Resources
    • Insurance
    • Legal
    • Mortgage
    • Mutual Funds
    • Payments
    • Policy
    • Retail and Marketing
    • Tax and Accounting
    • Technology
    • Wealth Management
  • Newsbytes
  • Podcasts
  • Magazine
    • Subscribe
    • Advertise
    • Magazine Archive
    • Newsletter Archive
    • Podcast Archive
    • Sponsored Content Archive
No Result
View All Result
No Result
View All Result
ADVERTISEMENT
Home Retail and Marketing

Travelers and Banks: a Love Story

August 13, 2019
Reading Time: 4 mins read
Travelers and Banks: a Love Story

By Phil Seward

Banks and credit card companies have long loved travelers as customers. Today’s travelers are made up of diverse demographics, giving banks the opportunity to provide a broad range of benefits and offers. These offers range from miles or points for card spend or complimentary access to airport lounges to relax and refuel prior to boarding. Challenger banks—such as N26 in the United Kingdom—and well-established players, such as Chase, understand the appeal these value-added services and benefits have. And they make a point of offering free or low-fee foreign transactions to lure consumers with a wanderlust lifestyle.

Some critics may argue that focusing on a leisure-oriented audience could cause banks to miss out on the opportunity to secure strategic revenue gains. However, the travel industry is witnessing consumers engage in more frequent and pleasurable travel. Millennials, especially, are taking part in more “micro-cations,” with 72 percent of millennials having taken at least one vacation no longer than four nights in 2018, compared to 69 percent of Gen X-ers and 60 percent of baby boomers.

Travel continues to be a top interest for many consumers—with 1.4 billion international tourist arrivals in 2018 (a six percent increase over 2017). More than ever, travelers represent a vital and highly profitable investment for banks.

Valuable customers

With travel becoming more ubiquitous, banks are better able to accurately identify mid- to high-net-worth consumers who will be potentially valuable long-term. The more enjoyable an airport experience is for a customer, the more likely they are to spend at airport concessions and restaurants. In fact, a report released in 2017 by GlobalData estimated that spending in airports could reach a global total of $49 billion by 2021, a 27 percent increase since 2016. Therefore, unlocking cross-border spend once travelers are at their destination is also a key value driver for banks.

At the end of the day, it is worth it to banks to devote time and effort to retain the loyalty of these lucrative customers. While this investment can manifest itself in a variety of ways, the key is to make sure that the benefits and travel-related products that banks offer to travelers impact their everyday lives. There are many stages throughout the travel experience where small additions can make a big difference to the customer—from lounge access while waiting for a delayed flight to trip delay and lost baggage insurance. This can generate goodwill and enhance bank loyalty. Additionally, banks have plenty of customer data available at their fingertips. If used correctly, banks can deliver more personalized and timely travel incentives.

Banks do not need to invest in expensive experience-impacting benefits and rewards to leave a positive and memorable impact on customers. By capitalizing on airport experiences and offering personalized incentives to travelers, banks can begin to see a boost in their brand recognition—and even more tangible, their business metrics. There’s also the potential to drive higher card spend—including cross-border spend—and help banks differentiate themselves against competitors.

Opportunities presented

A bank’s success in today’s digital economy is ultimately decided not only by its access to data, but its ability to accurately interpret it and offer a selection of personalized benefits and rewards.

Airports themselves present a valuable opportunity to access customer data. Almost every shop in an airport collects origin and destination data, which shows where a traveler has departed from and where he or she is traveling to next. Banks can easily identify which of their customers are frequent travelers by tracking how often they use their card at the airport or in overseas locations.

With the right systems in place and a deep understanding of what makes customers tick, travel presents banks with a range of opportunities to boost engagement and even grow relationships. Card-linked offers (CLOs) are especially helpful in this space. CLOs enable spend-related offers or rewards—whether cashback or loyalty currency—and provide a simple way for customers to view offers, link them to their payment card and redeem them when paying online or in-store. This process significantly reduces friction and benefits both the bank and the traveler. CLOs also provide an abundance of valuable data that, when leveraged effectively, can be used by banks to deliver more personalized offers and experiences to their customers—driving further engagement and loyalty opportunities. Capitalizing on data from a variety of sources in a smart way helps banks to remain top of mind for their customers, creating emotional loyalty.

Securing long-term relationships

Customers don’t want to be an afterthought. They want a brand that understands them, their lifestyle and their interests. Therefore, to retain customers and boost brand loyalty, banks must be willing to reinvent their strategic approach, placing customer experience at the forefront. By embracing new partners and technology, and using available data, banks have an opportunity to be present in customers’ everyday lives. They can present relevant benefits and offers that are both compelling and personalized to the individual. Travel is an increasingly important gauge of this, and paying attention this sector will help to drive long-term relationships between banks and their customers on the move.

Phil Seward is senior vice president of loyalty strategy – Americas, at Collinson, a global leader in customer benefits and loyalty solutions.

ADVERTISEMENT
Tags: Niche marketing
ShareTweetPin

Related Posts

Director’s Briefing: How a Maryland bank’s CEO is prioritizing strategy and governance

Director’s Briefing: How a Maryland bank’s CEO is prioritizing strategy and governance

Directors Briefing
July 14, 2025

Why deliberately separating CEO and board chair roles is a good idea. And the value of strategic planning ahead of a major asset threshold.

How to Hyper-Segment Your Customer Communications without Losing Control

Marketing Money Podcast: The 30-month plan to future-proof bank marketing

Retail and Marketing
July 11, 2025

How aligning marketing with executive and business-line goals can make a massive impact.

Using Artificial Intelligence to Make Sense of Mountains of Data

Three myths about AI in banking

Technology
July 3, 2025

Common myths and misperceptions might confuse about what to expect and misdirect investment and efforts.

Chair’s View: Celebrating a century of giving back

Chair’s View: Celebrating a century of giving back

Community Banking
July 1, 2025

Not only do we celebrate the 150th anniversary of our organization, we also commemorate an important milestone for the ABA Foundation.

Fighting fraud on the frontline

Fighting fraud on the frontline

Compliance and Risk
June 30, 2025

Customer inquiries and complaints are important tools for detecting scams, but structural barriers in the bank may prevent them from being fully utilized.

Marketing Money Podcast: You don’t need a bigger budget — you need a better plan

Retail and Marketing
June 27, 2025

What matters most in bank marketing. And understanding how to deal with common obstacles.

NEWSBYTES

ABA, associations seek clarity about Fannie, Freddie credit scoring change

July 11, 2025

ABA DataBank: Copper prices rise on tariff announcement

July 11, 2025

FDIC issues regulatory relief guidance for Texas

July 11, 2025

SPONSORED CONTENT

Navigating Disruption in Ag Lending – Why Tariffs Are Just the Tip of the Iceberg

Navigating Disruption in Ag Lending – Why Tariffs Are Just the Tip of the Iceberg

July 1, 2025
AI Compliance and Regulation: What Financial Institutions Need to Know

Unlocking Deposit Growth: How Financial Institutions Can Activate Data for Precision Cross-Sell

June 1, 2025
Choosing the Right Account Opening Platform: 10 Key Considerations for Long-Term Success

Choosing the Right Account Opening Platform: 10 Key Considerations for Long-Term Success

April 25, 2025
Outsourcing: Getting to Go/No-Go

Outsourcing: Getting to Go/No-Go

April 5, 2025

PODCASTS

Breaking down the bank-related provisions in the big budget bill

July 10, 2025

Podcast: Inside ABA’s new Treasury Check Verification System API

June 25, 2025

Podcast: Staying close to clients amid tariff-driven volatility

June 18, 2025
ADVERTISEMENT

American Bankers Association
1333 New Hampshire Ave NW
Washington, DC 20036
1-800-BANKERS (800-226-5377)
www.aba.com
About ABA
Privacy Policy
Contact ABA

ABA Banking Journal
About ABA Banking Journal
Media Kit
Advertising
Subscribe

© 2025 American Bankers Association. All rights reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Topics
    • Ag Banking
    • Commercial Lending
    • Community Banking
    • Compliance and Risk
    • Cybersecurity
    • Economy
    • Human Resources
    • Insurance
    • Legal
    • Mortgage
    • Mutual Funds
    • Payments
    • Policy
    • Retail and Marketing
    • Tax and Accounting
    • Technology
    • Wealth Management
  • Newsbytes
  • Podcasts
  • Magazine
    • Subscribe
    • Advertise
    • Magazine Archive
    • Newsletter Archive
    • Podcast Archive
    • Sponsored Content Archive

© 2025 American Bankers Association. All rights reserved.