“Our employees at the contact center had more trouble switching to payment links than our guests,” says Rudy Herrema, Finance and ICT Manager at Rederij Doeksen, with a smile. “But they also got used to it quickly. PayByLink makes their job much easier.”
Since 1923 Rederij Doeksen has been providing passenger transport between Harlingen, Vlieland and Terschelling. “We do this with four ferries and two fast passenger catamarans. We also operate a cargo ship to supply the islands,” explains Herrema. “About 800,000 people make the crossing with us every year. And have been doing this for almost 100 years. We are very proud of that.”
Time-consuming and laborious
For the crossing, travelers have to make a reservation in advance. “You can also go to the ticket office and buy a ticket, but that only rarely happens. Most people book on our website, some 85-90%. In addition, people book by phone. We were especially looking for a new payment method for our phone bookings” continues Herrema. “Previously, guests paid via a one-time direct debit. That was a time-consuming and laborious method, because all kinds of information had to be requested over the phone, such as bank account numbers. It was also sometimes difficult, because in some cases the money could not be collected while guests were boarding. Or the payment was charged back afterwards. Then we had to actively pursue it. This became unworkable.”
Looking for a new payment method
Partly for these reasons, and the changes in privacy legislation, Rederij Doeksen started looking for a new payment method. “Through Ingenico we got in touch with PayByLink. With their help, the payment link was 100% integrated with our reservation system. These payment links are immediately created and sent by mail, and more importantly, with a validity of four hours. If the link is not used – i.e. if a payment has not been made – the reservation expires. This is how we keep things under control.”
Rapid employee acclimatisation
“It took some getting used to for our employees when we introduced PayByLink. But it’s so simple,” says Herrema. “With the integration into our reservation system, all our phone staff now have to do is tick PayByLink, and the payment link is automatically sent to our guests via email, so they can pay immediately. After payment, the payment status is updated in real time and displayed with the reservation. It saves our staff a lot of work. So once they got used to this new way, which was very quickly, they were also very satisfied.” At the moment, Rederij Doeksen deploys PayByLink for all transport, except freight. “But we are also thinking about our freight transport. Then we are talking about payment reminders.”
Perfect switching process
The whole implementation process went perfectly according to Herma. “We did not experience any problems. PayByLink has set everything up nicely. If we had a question, we were contacted very quickly and received an answer. Even now if something happens, PayByLink get right to the point. The contact is really good.”
