Agency networks Helloworld Travel and TravelManagers have both signed deals with Mint Payments, following the impending shutdown of incumbent supplier eNett’s electronic funds transfer (EFT) remittance system.

Mint Payments added EFT functionality to its payment ecosystem late last month for agents in order to fill the whole that would’ve been left by eNett, which announced earlier this year that it would scrap its EFT system at the end of August.

Helloworld has signed an exclusive three-year agreement with Mint Partners to use its “end-to-end” payments solution across its global network.

Payment services included in the agreement will encompass Eftpos terminals, online credit card payments, real-time bank transfers/electronic funds transfers and a range of new payment types planned for the future.

Helloworld will first launch Mint’s new EFT product at the end of the month, making it available to over 2,000 travel agents and wholesale businesses for their B2B supplier payment requirements.

Andrew Burnes, CEO of Helloworld, said the company was “delighted” to partner with Mint Payments to enable integrated payment services for Resworld and support its networks with a “strong replacement” for the Enett product.

“At Helloworld, we are always looking for ways to deliver genuine value across our networks,” he said.

“Providing a seamless and integrated end-to-end payments solution built for the industry, by the industry with Mint will certainly deliver this value.”

TravelManagers’ finance and commercial manager, Tanyu Cilek, described Mint’s new offering as “better than ever”.

“With eNett’s withdrawal from travel industry payments coming into effect on 1 September, we needed to move quickly to ensure a seamless transition to a new product,” he said.

“Consequently, we approached Mint to provide a replacement service to that previously offered by eNett, with the objective of having this operational prior to eNett’s withdrawal on 1 September.

“We worked with Mint to create a system that provides all the existing features of eNett and more.

“This includes the ability for payments to be authorised centrally by TravelManagers’ national partnership office, enabling us to maintain the integrity of our fully-funded client account.

“This feature is only available through MintEFT, and not with any alternative industry offering.”

The impending departure of eNett from the travel industry has seen not one but two new players arriving on the scene, and Cilek believes the resulting competition between providers is positive for the industry as a whole.

“The two system options have some configuration differences: MintEFT is the best solution for TravelManagers, but the cost to suppliers in offering both solutions to their retail partners is modest.

“In our view, having two providers from which to choose will result in healthy competition and ensure that costs remain manageable.”

Featured image source: iStock/kyoshino