Darren Thang on the Future of B2B Travel Payments and AI at ITB Asia 2025
Saturday, November 8, 2025 - Singapore
At ITB Asia 2025, Darren Thang, Head of Marketing at Sunrate, shared a clear message: B2B travel payments are moving toward speed, clarity, and a balanced mix of AI plus human service. The goal isn't flash. It's reliable payments, smoother operations, and a better customer experience end to end.
ITB Asia: Where relationships turn into real deals
ITB Asia remains a strong place for travel pros to meet, compare notes, and pressure-test solutions. Sunrate has used the event to listen first, then present fixes that actually map to a client's day-to-day constraints.
"We've been attending ITB Asia for many years now, and it's always been an excellent opportunity for us to engage with our clients and present our solutions directly. This event provides a great opportunity for us to discuss the specific challenges our clients face in the B2B payments arena," said Darren.
If you haven't experienced the event, it's worth tracking: ITB Asia.
What Sunrate is solving for travel businesses
Sunrate focuses on B2B payments for OTAs, TMCs, and other travel players-covering supplier payouts to airlines and hotels, smarter reconciliation, and cleaner financial ops. Yes, cashback commercial cards are part of it, but that's just one piece.
"While commercial cards have been a core part of our offering, we've seen a shift in the industry. Travel businesses are realizing that the B2B payment space is much broader than just that. They're looking for an all-encompassing solution to better manage their financial operations, and that's what Sunrate delivers," Darren explained.
AI is here, but the human connection still wins
Traditionally, B2B payments in travel has been high-touch and relationship-driven. That won't disappear. What's changing is the expectation for faster, smarter responses-without losing the person behind the screen.
Sunrate's approach: let AI do the repetitive work so teams can spend their energy on strategic conversations, complex deals, and stronger partnerships. "We're not looking to replace people with robots. Our goal is to empower our team with AI to increase productivity, but still retain the essential human touch," Darren said.
He added, clients still want the personal touch-lunches, face-to-face talks, and context. AI should reduce busywork, not the relationship.
For marketing teams: what to do right now
- Reposition the story from "features" to operational outcomes: fewer supplier disputes, smoother reconciliation, better cash visibility, faster issue resolution.
- Publish real metrics: time-to-payout improvements, acceptance rates with airlines/hotels, reduction in manual touches per transaction, support response times.
- Enable AI-assisted sales without losing the human moment. Let AI prep briefs, surface account insights, and draft follow-ups. Keep humans for negotiations and solution mapping.
- Create proof-driven content: supplier onboarding guides, chargeback prevention checklists, ROI calculators, and case snapshots built around measurable results.
- Upgrade service promises: route inquiries with AI triage, set response SLAs, and make escalation paths clear. Talk about it publicly-speed is a value prop.
- Use events like ITB Asia for ABM: pre-book meetings, share concise one-pagers, and follow up with tailored solution recaps within 24 hours.
- Track the right KPIs: first-response time, time-to-resolution, rep capacity gained from AI, payout success rate, card utilization by segment, and reconciliation cycle time.
Humanizing AI inside the customer experience
Sunrate's stance is simple: AI as leverage, not replacement. Automate the repetitive. Keep the moments that build trust-strategy sessions, sensitive issue handling, and long-term planning-decidedly human.
"Our customers still want the personal touch… AI can help us be more productive by handling some of the administrative tasks, but the core of our business is still about relationships," Darren shared.
What's next for Sunrate
Sunrate plans to expand into more regions and keep refining its platform for travel businesses. As AI advances, the focus is staying useful: practical features, measurable performance, and a consistent customer experience.
"We're constantly evolving and adapting to the changing landscape. We're looking to expand into new regions and markets, and we're committed to enhancing our platform with even more features. The future of travel and payments is exciting, and Sunrate will be right there, leading the way," said Darren.
Why this matters for marketers
- Buyers don't want hype-they want proof. Lead with numbers and workflows that reduce friction for finance and ops teams.
- Your differentiator is often speed plus trust. Show how AI shortens response times while people handle the high-value moments.
- Turn partnerships into content: co-create playbooks with airlines and hotels; demonstrate acceptance, reliability, and support quality.
About Sunrate
Sunrate is a B2B payments platform serving the travel industry. The company helps OTAs, TMCs, and other travel stakeholders streamline supplier payments and improve financial operations. Its approach blends AI efficiency with human expertise to raise productivity and deliver dependable service.
Helpful resource
If you're building AI skills inside a marketing org, you might find this useful: AI Certification for Marketing Specialists.
Your membership also unlocks:
