The booking platform, which is scheduled to go live next year, will allow SMCC cardholders and reward members to book everything from accommodations to flights and car rentals, while saving money, as the Japanese firm looks to expand its existing customer base. There is also the potential for discounted trip packages personalised to individual cardholders to be introduced in the future.
According to Nikkei, the travel portal will be linked to Olive, an all-in-one consumer finance app that was released by parent company Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group last year. It represents Olive’s first venture into travel and beyond the financial sector as it bids to become Asia’s next ‘super app’ with an estimated 2.3 million users.
HTS is the B2B division of the online travel agency Hopper, which leverages data to bring transparency, flexibility and savings to travellers and empowers financial institutions to supercharge travel benefits for cardholders.
Dakota Smith, president and co-founder of Hopper, said: “HTS is uniquely positioned to power SMCC’s travel portal and bring industry-leading travel booking options to their tens of millions of cardholders and reward members. We are thrilled to be partnering with SMCC on this endeavour and look forward to the portal’s launch.”
Yoshiro Kagata, managing executive offer at SMCC, said: “At SMCC, we are focused on providing value to our customers in all areas, including areas outside traditional financial offerings. Partnering with HTS to power this portal will give our cardholders a new way to book travel in the Japanese market and get the most value out of their loyalty benefits.”