Thomas Cook India’s Strategic Focus on Significant Shift to Cashless Ecosystem

THOMAS COOK (India) Ltd is witnessing significant growth of over 25 per cent in its prepaid cards business, with one out of every two customers opting for a card. Thomas Cook India in its strategic endeavor to move towards a cashless ecosystem, had launched innovative first movers in the payment solutions space -the ‘One Currency Card’  and the multi-currency ‘Borderless Prepaid Card’ offering a three pronged benefit of value, convenience and security.

While the Thomas Cook ‘One Currency Card’ offers a strong USP of a single load currency (USD) and zero cross currency conversion charges, across the world, The Thomas Cook Borderless Prepaid Card empowers travelers with the option of loading eight currencies on a single card (US Dollars, British Pounds, Euro, Australian Dollars, Canadian Dollars, Swiss Francs, Singapore Dollars and Japanese Yen) enabling the cardholder to use the appropriate currency, basis the country being visited - effectively saving money and time. The Company has seen strong consumer uptake: with high double digit YOY growth of 30 per cent for its Borderless Prepaid Card and over 300 per cent growth in Q1 2016 for its One Currency Card.

In a focused initiative to drive this shift, as also to leverage the peak travel season potential and inspire demand, Thomas Cook India has introduced its strategic "Travel Smart, Drive Easy" campaign – offering customers the opportunity to win a brand new Mahindra KUV 100 on the purchase of either the Thomas Cook One Currency or Borderless Prepaid Card or a Send Money Abroad transaction.

The offer is applicable on retail transactions (Thomas Cook travel prepaid cards or Send Money Abroad) of a minimum value of USD 500 or equivalent, from May 2 - July 2, 2016. Additionally, lucky customers stand a chance to win an iPad Mini daily and an iPhone 6S weekly.

The two month long campaign incorporates a healthy mix of print, outdoor, radio and digital focus across – Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Kolkata, Chennai, Pune and Hyderabad. The campaign is also being promoted aggressively via Twitter and Facebook contests and will see live updates on winners on its social media properties.

Mahesh Iyer, Chief Operating Officer, Thomas Cook (India) Ltd., (see photo) said,  “As market leaders, our focus on innovation has empowered customers with path-breaking products and services like our pre-paid cards.  Our internal data reveals that Indians are increasingly travelling smart, with high adoption of prepaid travel cards. The clear preference of plastic over cash, with both leisure and business travelers, is emphatic. Our ‘Travel Smart Drive Easy’ campaign thus intends to leverage the strong potential of our existing and potential customer base and inspire demand, being timed perfectly for the current peak travel season.”