Expense manager Nexonia has stamped its ticket into the travel booking space with the launch of the Nexonia Travel platform. The first significant product since Nexonia merged with Certify in June 2017, Nexonia Travel marks a major step in the combined company's efforts to serve larger corporate clients and challenge Concur's dominance in the T&E management market.
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Built from the corporate travel booking technology that Certify acquired from NuTravel in September 2017, the Nexonia Travel mobile and desktop app enables business travelers and managers to book airfare, hotels, car rental and rail within specific parameters to ensure compliance with a company's travel policies. Travelers attempting to make bookings that fall outside policy limits receive automatic email and mobile alerts, freeing up corporate travel managers to focus on higher-value tasks, according to the company.
Along with increased efficiency, the travel booking tool offers corporate clients greater control over travel costs, which can lead to significant savings, according to Certify CEO Bob Neveu. "With an online booking tool, you can control the prices and do comparisons before you buy, which you have to do if you really want to control your [travel] spend," Neveu said.
For travelers, the service offers personalization features like saved preferences and frequent-flier information, as well as the ability to modify travel plans on the fly via the mobile app. Travelers also can make direct bookings with suppliers like Southwest Airlines, Air Canada, Amtrak and Via Rail Canada.
Nexonia Travel can integrate with Nexonia's existing expense program or serve as a standalone product. Certify also has integrated the booking technology it acquired from NuTravel with the Certify-branded expense solution. And offering combined expense management and travel booking is a major facet of Certify's strategy to gain market traction among larger corporate clients, according to Neveu.
"There are very few providers that own both the travel and the expense technology. We now own the [travel booking] technology, and that means we can do lots of things that are helpful to customers of all sizes," Neveu said. "Travel and expense go together, and now we have a true T&E offering through both Certify and Nexonia as we continue to move up to serve larger customers."