What is Travelkoin?
Payment gateways have been available on the Internet since the mid-1990s. A payment gateway functions as a trusted clearinghouse for parties wishing to transact in fiat currencies. They make sure the payment method is valid and has enough funds to cover the amount and they facilitate in moving those funds between buyer and seller for a fee.
As industries mature, specific needs become apparent and one size does not fit all. As a result, new payment gateways are created that cater to niche markets, such as travel. The travel industry is a mature industry and traveling “electronically” has been available since the day you were able to pay for a hotel room or a flight with your credit card. As both global travel and online travel products have exploded in the last 10 years, and are expected to continue to do so for the next 15 years2, there has been very little improvement to the existing payment model that helped start it all. While it has all spun into an increasingly complex web of travel products, made available to you by many different suppliers and aggregators: payment has stayed a constant.
“It’s that leaky toilet you don’t want to fix because it works and the repair man is expensive and you don’t want to do it yourself because it’s complicated and it works.”
The travel industry doesn’t move fast and has never been on the forefront of adopting cutting edge technologies. We’ve been using the same worn shoes and underwear for the last 30 years but that’s about to change.
Sometimes a technology comes around that revolutionizes the entire industry. As in every industry, the agenda has always been “cheaper, faster, better!” With the advent of the blockchain, the possibility of all the above just became a reality for us.
The Travelkoin Payment Gateway takes the complexity and the expense out of the travel industry’s daily transactions. It allows for complex payments to be made with ease and at no cost.