Chief operating officer Jonathon Woodall-Johnston said the new system will prevent chargebacks by doing all address checking at the point of sale.

Launched earlier this month, the technology will be available also for Hays’ network of homeworking agents, who are part of the Hays Travel Independence Group (IG).

“Even when customers go into shops, we can now transact everything on a secure payment,” Woodall-Johnston told TTG during the group’s annual conference on Sunday (5 March). “We have not really shouted about it but all homeworkers get the benefit of that.”

According to a recent poll carried out by TTG, 74% of travel agents said they were more concerned about fraudulent bookings than they were in pre-pandemic times, while 61% said they had successfully thwarted a scam in recent months.

’Safeguards’

Fraudulent transactions are not the only issue plaguing the industry right now, as upcoming regulatory changes as well as staff shortages remain on many businesses’ minds, Hays’ owner and chair Dame Irene Hays added.

Agents will have to deal with a raft of regulatory changes over the next few years, from new ways to safeguard payments for Atol-protected travel to a reform of Package Travel Regulations. 

The UK government is also looking at increasing the power watchdogs such as the Civil Aviation Authority and the Competition and Markets Authority have to crack down on anti-competitive behaviour. 

Hays told TTG that while shake-up could be challenging, the group – which achieved a £1 billion turnover in the first six months of its current financial year  – was ready to tackle issues head on.

“It’s really important to make sure that we’re doing everything to safeguard funds for our customers and to comply with any requirements that the regulators ask of us,” she said.

Hays also highlighted how staffing shortages will not abate this year. “I think there are still some challenges this year, and potentially going into next, around recruitment,” she added. “Which is why once again this year we will be taking on apprentices.”

Hays Travel announced plans to recruit between 400 and 420 new apprentices and “have them ready to sell” by September 2023.