U.S. Bank Parent Company to Acquire TravelBank
U.S. Bank’s parent company U.S. Bancorp is acquiring SME-focused travel and expense platform TravelBank, the company announced on Tuesday.
TravelBank and U.S. Bank already have been partners for more than a year with the integration U.S. Bank’s virtual payment tool Instant Card into TravelBank, announced in September 2020. With that integration, travel managers using TravelBank, many of whom do not have traditional corporate card programs, are able instantly to issue virtual cards for purchases made with TravelBank’s online booking tool.
With the acquisition of TravelBank, U.S. Bank said it will be able to speed up the integration of digital payments into the commercial sector.
“In partnering with TravelBank over the past year, we’ve seen how effective the solution is in improving efficiencies for businesses,” U.S. Bank vice chair of payment services Shailesh Kotwal said in a statement. “This acquisition will allow us to significantly expand our client base and deliver even more value to our customers.”
U.S. Bank expects to close the acquisition before the end of the year and did not disclose the financial details of the acquisition. A U.S. Bank spokesperson said there are no plans to rebrand TravelBank under the U.S. Bank umbrella, and co-founder and CEO Duke Chung will continue to manage TravelBank, reporting to U.S. Bank head of corporate payment and treasury solutions Jeff Jones.
The acquisition is the latest of several by large financial services firms of technology tools in the travel and expense space. Capital One last month acquired the workforce and software platform of corporate travel management startup Lola, which had suspended operations a few weeks prior, and the firm last year also acquired mobile flight disruption management and rebooking tool Freebird. American Express, meanwhile, acquired artificial intelligence-powered personal travel assistant Mezi in 2018 to power its own travel concierge service for cardholders.
Michael B. Baker www.businesstravelnews.com