WeSwap targets travel agents with commission and data sharing

Peer to peer currency exchange WeSwap is targeting travel agents as a new way of scaling the business. It works by allowing travellers to exchange 18 currencies with other travellers and claims to take less commission than the traditional bureau … Continue reading →

Peer to peer currency exchange WeSwap is targeting travel agents as a new way of scaling the business.

It works by allowing travellers to exchange 18 currencies with other travellers and claims to take less commission than the traditional bureau de change. It charges as little as 1%.

The London-based firm, which recently began lending to customers and raised more than £2.4 million through crowdfunding last year, said it would offer travel agents commission if they recommend WeSwap cards, which are affiliated with Mastercard.

“What’s important to us is being able to distribute WeSwap through the travel industry,” said founder and CEO Jared Jesner.

In a further effort to woo travel agency partners, WeSwap is offering to provide data on where customers spend their money which can be used to drive incremental revenue.

Agents will learn what sort of products and services their customers – whose individual data is kept anonymous – are spending their money on when they use their WeSwap cards abroad.

“We know what they’ve spent in Miami or at McDonalds at the airport,” he said. “But we want to share that information with travel agent partners. We can’t share individuals’ spending but we can share patterns of spending.”

WeSwap will offer to then contact individual “high spenders” on behalf of agencies through white label marketing emails, which can also have links back to the agency’s website in a bid to drive repeat bookings.

“It’s aimed at smaller agents who don’t have a very good way to keep in touch with their customers all year round,” Jesner added.