Choice Introduces Consolidated Invoicing for Corp. Customers

Choice Hotels International partnered in April with TreviPay to collaborate on a consolidated direct billing option for corporate customers. Today the company announced the ‘customer launch’ of the product at the Global Business Travel Association in San Diego. It went live on Monday.

Using the new Direct Pay option, corporate customers can choose to receive weekly consolidated invoicing from every brand in the Choice Hotels portfolio in a consolidated record of transactions. Corporate customers are free to book hotel rooms either direct through the company’s website or the hotel’s app or reservation center, or via the corporate’s agency of choice; clients will maintain access to their corporate negotiated rates and amenities by entering their Choice-issued corporate ID. They can track their invoice status and charges through a dedicated portal and access Direct Pay customer support to help with the enrollment process, check the status of payment and invoices or resolve any issues with charges. Corporates can add department-level billing codes to simplify invoice reconciliation.

In introducing the new payment option to corporate customers, Choice VP of global sales Chad Fletcher focused on flexibility and fraud mitigation. “I think about credit card authorization forms that are still sitting on front desks throughout the industry. Direct Pay eliminates that,” he said.

TreviPay manages the customer support and invoicing program administration on the Choice side. A press release from April, when the companies struck the partnership, referenced the need to provide corporate clients with a way to avoid the credit exposure of issuing corporate cards to employees. It also highlighted the need to protect franchisees from the risks of extending credit. By bringing in a third party to consolidate and chase invoices, Choice takes the credit issuing question off the table on both sides. Choice was the first hotel company to engage with TreviPay, according to the payment company.

Elizabeth West  www.businesstravelnews.com