The use of mobile wallets and invisible payments for business travel is set to see exception growth in the next five years, according to Barclaycard

With the new demand for ‘bleisure’, 94% of companies now allow employees to add leisure days to business trips, payments are set to receive a boost.

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Barclaycard’s research shows that 66% of travel decision-makers believe the use of digital or mobile wallets will increase over the next half decade.

Just under a third (32%) of travel decision-makers who allow bleisure days have seen the demand increase of the last year. 95% of respondents said it was to ensure their employees felt valued.

This has seen an uptake in mobile wallet usage. 29% say requests to pay in mobile wallets have increase over the last year and 26% have noted a rise in the number of travellers who want to book their trips on a supplier mobile app.

66% of travel buyers anticipate the usage of mobile wallets increasing over the next five years. In addition, 58% expected to see uplift in the use of ‘invisible payments’ – entering card details once into an app for repeat purchasing – over the same period.

Maria Parpou, director of Barclaycard commercial payments, said: “Today’s business travellers are blurring the lines between their personal and professional lives – not only by adding holiday days to business travel, but also in their expectations for the entire trip experience. As consumers become accustomed to different ways to purchase their leisure trips, including mobile and invisible payments, they expect their business travel bookings to be just as easy.

“As this trend evolves, corporations and suppliers alike need to look at how they make and take payments. The good news is that there are already solutions available that will help businesses meet their changing needs. By taking advantage of digital payment methods such as mobile wallets and virtual cards which are rich with data, payments can become the thread that ties each booking – no matter where or how it was made – into a complete trip. This means companies can respond to traveller demands while balancing their need for compliance and control.”