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Here in our latest feature we are joining Richard WasakCEO of Travelex.
A seasoned leader in the digital space, Wazacz has demonstrated a track record of innovation, strategy and operations across industries such as fintech, financial services and travel.
Before joining Travelex, brick vesta commercial real estate debt company, and Octopus grouphe was the founder and CEO of many new fintech businesses.
Wazacz has also held senior management positions at both. Lloyds Bank Group When PrudentialEarly in his career he led logistics and baggage operations across Heathrow Airport. shell as a process engineer.
Travelex is a foreign exchange company with 1,100 stores and 900 ATMs in over 20 countries. We focus on where, how and when people need access to cash while traveling.
As supplier of outsourced foreign currency services, We are also heavily involved in wholesale cash movements around the world.
to supply Hundreds of global financial institutions, central banks, credit unions and travel agencies around the world, British supermarket, hotel and casino.
The company was founded in 1976 to help address the specific problem of people needing foreign currency when traveling.
At the time, it was very difficult to buy and sell foreign currencies (in a highly regulated environment) in an efficient and service-friendly manner, other than through banks whose provision of foreign exchange services was trivial and expensive.
Travelex fills that void and continues to serve major cities and destinations in a service-focused manner, offering a variety of related products and delivery channels.
When traveling internationally, many travelers are unaware of the currency they need, the amount of currency they need, the form of currency, and the most efficient way to obtain it.
Our proposition is very focused on giving our customers that information and the currency they need to face every scenario while traveling.
When the business began some 50 years ago, the focus was very customer-oriented. This has not changed and our customers remain one of our key priorities today.
Initially, we were at the forefront of the development of Generation 1.0 technologies, including focused POS systems and workflow solutions tailored to the requirements of our customers and colleagues.
As our business expanded rapidly and grew internationally, we developed our technology as needed But not as much as the newer companies that have put technology at the heart of their business and adopted a technology-first approach over the past two decades.
We recognize that technology must return to the forefront of our proposition so that we can differentiate ourselves from our competitors and meet the needs of our customers through technology.
Going back to the ‘when, where and how’, it is technology that can better meet these demands.
Humanity is, of course, always important to us and our customers, but consumers are becoming increasingly comfortable with technology: self-service kiosks, ATM click-and-collect services, travel money cards, and digital wallets.
In this sense, we see more and more that as a forex company we use fintech effectively, offering a blend of physical and digital to best serve our customers.
Over the last few years, the company has faced some major challenges. There was a cyber incident at the end of 2019 that did not compromise any data, but did affect our operations for some time.
The COVID-19 pandemic was the biggest challenge facing the company. Our business depends on international travel, so when it stopped, we had to rethink our business.
Unfortunately, a review of restructuring the business has resulted in the transfer of certain limited portions of the business into management.
Business is growing rapidly around the world again under a resurgence of travel and new ownership. We are already tracking our performance against pre-pandemic levels in 2019 and recently announced over 1,200 new international jobs as a result of this healthy recovery.
Our recovery has given us an opportunity to think how This includes how we can use technology more efficiently and effectively and, most importantly, how we can better serve our customers.
I believe this achievement needs to be reflected across the business, my team, and the 4,000+ colleagues around the world who have kept the business alive during the pandemic.
They faced incredibly tough conditions and helped get them back to where they were in 2019. This is an incredible achievement.
The thing that struck me most when I joined Travelex was the strong entrepreneurial spirit.
A business is founded by an entrepreneur, Lloyd Dorfmanused the business as a platform for developing technology, and I still feel the entrepreneurial spirit and spirit within the business.
Having worked in a large company before moving into the startup space, I feel that Travelex’s entrepreneurial spirit bodes well for transforming businesses when it comes to using technology.
This business has been through some very difficult times, but I have a cohort of colleagues here who have been through a lot of hardships.
What you are feeling is a lot of love, passion and care for the company and the people we work with. Its desire and belief in what Travelex is trying to do and how it works to help its customers is very valuable.
It is absolutely clear that using the latest methods of technology and product development will be central to what we do going forward.
We are looking at a variety of solutions, such as using technology to support B2B2C goals, working with retailers around the world, and giving customers the opportunity to self-serve at airports and pre-travel. increase.
We also recognize that there are certain products, features and features that we are able to commercialize, particularly with respect to pricing and currency exchange.
Physical use of cash will continue to decline over the next 20 to 30 years. Travel may be the last industry to lose cash, but we believe cash remains important in many markets (some more than others). years to come.
We are already thinking about how we can further develop our attractive digital proposition to help you solve all your travel problems.
