For South African travel agencies offering Black Friday deals that include international flights, hotels, or overseas tours, the challenge isn't just creating an attractive deal - it's managing the cross-border payment friction that can kill a conversion at the final hurdle. This year, don't let slow, costly, and complicated payment processes erode your margins and ruin the customer experience. You can instead turn Black Friday promotions into a global revenue success story.
The cross-border payment problem on Black Friday
When a customer in South Africa books a trip to Bali, or a client in the UK books a safari with your agency, the transaction crosses borders. These payments are often plagued by three major issues:
1. High fees and poor exchange rates
Traditional banking methods or older payment systems typically involve excessive hidden fees and unfavourable currency conversions, which directly cuts into your Black Friday discount margins or inflates the final cost for the customer.
2. Slow settlement times
Travel products require quick confirmation. Delays (sometimes days long) in receiving funds from a foreign client or paying an overseas supplier can lead to booking errors, loss of inventory, and frustrated customers.
3. Cart abandonment
A checkout process that suddenly introduces complex foreign exchange details, unexpected bank fees, or demands unusual documentation is a guaranteed way to increase cart abandonment, especially during the high-pressure, fast-paced environment of a Black Friday sale.
Three strategies for Black Friday payment optimisation
To transform cross-border payments from a liability into a competitive advantage this Black Friday, South African travel agencies should focus on these strategies:
1. Embrace modern multi-currency gateways
Partner with an independent payment gateway that specialises in multiple currencies and offers locally-relevant payment methods for your target markets.
Offer the customer's currency
Displaying and accepting payment in the customer's local currency (e.g., USD, GBP) provides instant transparency, eliminating exchange rate shock and boosting conversion. The gateway handles the FX conversion seamlessly and at a more favourable rate than a typical bank.
Verto allows you to open local accounts in GBP, USD, NGN, KES and ZAR. With this, you can ensure your clients can pay you with no fees and as fast as possible using local payment rails. We also offer global accounts for seamless transactions with 150+ currencies.
Enable alternative payment methods (APMs)
Many international customers prefer local digital wallets, 'Buy Now, Pay Later' (BNPL) options (like Klarna or Afterpay in their markets), or immediate bank transfers over traditional cards. Offering these options on your checkout page reduces friction significantly.
2. Leverage multicurrency accounts
For agencies with high volumes of international sales, utilising a multicurrency account is critical.
A multicurrency account allows you to receive and hold foreign currency (e.g., USD) from your overseas bookings without immediately converting it to Rand. This hedges against volatile Rand or foreign currency fluctuations during the high-volume sales period, protecting the profitability of your Black Friday deals.
You can use the held foreign currency directly to pay your overseas suppliers (hotels, airlines, international tour operators), making the booking process much faster and more efficient (T+0 settlement in some cases).
3. Prioritise transparency and security
The surge in Black Friday deals also brings a surge in scams. Reassure customers and build trust by making your payment details crystal clear.
If a fee is unavoidable, ensure it is clearly displayed at checkout. Customers prefer a slight fee they know about over a hidden fee they discover later.
Simplify compliance (SARB rules)
Work with your bank or payments platform to ensure you are compliant with the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) Exchange Control Regulations. Be prepared to provide the necessary transaction documentation without demanding complex, unnecessary personal details (like individual traveller passport numbers) which can contravene privacy laws (like POPIA), causing confusion and delays.
More bookings give you better margins
This Black Friday, the most prepared travel agencies won't just have the best deals—they will also have the fastest, fairest, and most frictionless checkout.
By streamlining cross-border payments, your South African travel agency can transform its Black Friday performance.
Expand to new markets. One account, limitless possibilities.
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