Travel agents are responding well to the recently launched Anaconda Travel SIM and are seizing the opportunity to benefit from an additional revenue stream, according to the product's co-founder.
Bruce Hansen told Travel Today that 350 of the cards are now in use following the launch six weeks ago.
"That may sound relatively small compared to our competitors, but considering it's from a standing start, we're very pleased," he said.
Hansen highlighted Anaconda's key differentiator as the "stability" provided by its extensive network around the world. It has agreements with telecommunications companies in more than 200 countries with the product "built on a platform administered by one of the largest telcos in the world".
However, the main draw card for agents is its offer of a 10% commission on each card sold, and on every subsequent top up for the life of the card. The website's back-end has been developed specifically for the travel industry, he revealed.
"Whereas many of others are basically geared to mums and dads going online and buying a SIM card, our business is pretty much generated around the travel industry and the process of getting agents to become affiliates and then earn commission," he said.
"Ultimately, we see travel agents booking fares for their customers and then adding a travel SIM. It's another income source for travel agents in an industry that is already pressed for margins."
Anaconda has signed a deal with "one of the big" agency groups and Hansen is hopeful others will follow suit, even taking the opportunity to create their own white label version of the SIM.
