USA/INTERNATIONAL. Blockchain technology – which underpins bitcoin – could soon be widely applied in key travel-related business services and transactions.

CellPoint Mobile, which provides mobile-first commerce and payment solutions for airlines and travel companies, is hoping to be a disruptor in the travel industry with the launch of its Travel Innovation Hub. The “real-time lab” aims to explore and fast-track the application and development of blockchain-driven products that generate revenues for the travel sector and make travel easier.

Blockchain offers a secure and transparent way of recording transactions and other digital interactions – and serves as the public ledger for all bitcoin transactions. Its success with bitcoin has inspired others to develop new applications, although widespread commercialisation is still a few years away.

CellPoint sees one potential development in the travel sector as being a loyalty product that uses blockchain processes to streamline and protect ‘earn-redeem’ transactions in airline and travel loyalty programmes.

The company also said payment products that integrate blockchain authentication, digital wallet blockchain payment processors and other services directly from CellPoint Mobile could be developed.

According to CellPoint, the technology has the potential to create a unified and secure passenger ID created from existing verified data (such as passports, visas, company and payment data, airline and travel records, loyalty programme memberships and more). It would follow a passenger from the beginning to the end of a trip “with fewer interruptions or repeated requests for the same data or information and less vulnerability to fraud”.

The innovation hub itself is intended to serve as a “real-time lab where like-minded travel experts and innovators can explore, create, evaluate, test and fast-track the deployment of real-life blockchain use cases, business services and products”.

It will be led by CellPoint Mobile’s Chief Executive Officer Kristian Gjerding and Chief Technology Officer Jonatan Evald Buus. The hub aims to explore four main areas: traveller/passenger identification and verification; travel security; loyalty programme identity and transactions; and payments.

“Our goal is to work with partners who are interested in integrating practical, real-life travel solutions into our e-commerce platform,” said Gjerding.

“Fully functional applications of blockchain processes are still some time away from commercial use, but CellPoint Mobile is staking a claim in the travel market now because of blockchain’s potential to make the travel experience easier, more seamless and secure – for airlines, travel merchants and passengers alike.”

Blockchain grew out of a need to verify Bitcoin and cryptocurrency transactions, said Buus. “The ability to uniquely and securely identify a passenger or customer opens the door to a variety of activities and transactions that could be incredibly beneficial to the travel industry.

“The simple ability to have a single, verified passenger identify from start to finish of a trip – across borders, carriers, merchants, payment methods, mobile devices, etc. – will be a tremendous boon to passengers, airlines and travel merchants alike. That is just one of the innovative ideas we hope to pursue with our innovation partners and collaborators.”