Entrust launches a fully digital, seamless travel solution

Entrust has announced its expansion to the travel industry with its Seamless Travel Solution, a fully-digital travel service.

The new solution from the global identity, payments and data protection company enables a touchless and seamless experience for travellers by minimising contact points. While also simplifying and providing better security for border control, immigration and travel service provider operations.

With travel restrictions and changing policies causing economic uncertainty, the travel and tourism industry aims to increase safety and reduce friction for travellers.

"Travel - Tourism is working hard to bounce back from the effects of the pandemic," says World Travel and Tourism Council vice president, Americas, Helena Bononi.

"WTTC's Safe - Seamless Traveler Journey is central both in aiding a swift recovery and defining a new normal for the industry. This important initiative enables mobility and increases safety and security while always putting the passenger at the centre. We're encouraged by efforts from governments and industry to make this a reality.

"The new Entrust Seamless Travel Solution and all initiatives focusing on seamless travel are welcome additions to all current efforts," she says.

The announcement closely follows the acquisition of WorldReach Software in April 2021, combining the identity and data protection portfolio of Entrust with the expertise from WorldReach in digital identity verification and onboarding.

"As citizens of the world begin to travel again, now is the perfect time to bring this solution to the market," says Entrust vice president, Identity Verification, Gordon Wilson.

"We're confident that the Seamless Travel Solution will help launch the world into a new era of travel, allowing travellers to feel safer and experience less hassle, while also enabling operational efficiency to both border agencies and the entire travel industry through digital transformation."

The Entrust Seamless Travel Solution targets airlines, train operators, cruise lines, airports, border agencies, and other key global travel and tourism operators. Entrust believes it's a significant step toward a travel experience. The traveller no longer needs to present travel-related documents such as boarding passes and passports multiple times to various stakeholders at different checkpoints in their journey.

The company says travellers opting in will experience less hassle due to the solution's implementation of contactless biometric corridors employing facial recognition technology to confirm the traveller's identity, removing friction from touchpoints.

TLScontact, a provider of visa and consular services for governments globally, is incorporating the Entrust Seamless Travel Solution into its offering.

"TLScontact brings seamless, secure and increasingly digital application processing experience to a wide range of visa and consular services on behalf of governments across the world," says TLScontact chief sales officer, Simon Peachey.

"That's why we're partnering with Entrust to incorporate their market-leading Seamless Travel solution into our offering. Entrust capabilities in remote identity verification, and digital travel credentials, offer significant value both to our government clients and the travelling public."

Gatekeeper Intelligent Security, a provider of inspection and recognition solutions at the border, integrates Entrust digital identity verification into its border recognition systems.

"Gatekeeper leads the way in intelligent inspection and recognition solutions at the border," says Gatekeeper vice president, Global Sales - Operations, Colin Brown.

"We are committed to developing innovative solutions that augment human ability to perform security functions rapidly and accurately. We're teaming with Entrust to take advantage of their best-in-class remote identity verification capability, enabling drivers and passengers to submit biometrically secured identity data before travel or en route," he says.

"When coupled with Gatekeeper's border recognition systems, the result is a world-leading, automated, drive-through border solution."

The Seamless Travel Solution follows all GDPR regulations, does not retain personally identifiable information, and encrypts all data in transit and at rest for maximum user security. Each traveller using the service receives the option to store their Digital Travel Credential on their personal mobile device, but this is not required.