BWI: Agoda Checks in with PayPal

Press release from Business Wire India
Source: PayPal
Friday, October 09, 2009 02:00 PM IST (08:30 AM GMT)
Editors: General: Consumer interest, Travel & tourism; Business: Advertising, PR & marketing, Banking & financial services, Business services, Information technology, Travel & tourism; Technology
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Agoda Checks in with PayPal


Mumbai, Maharashtra, India, Friday, October 09, 2009 -- (Business Wire India) -- Agoda, Asia's leading and fastest growing online hotel reservation service, today announced that customers booking at www.agoda.com now have the option to pay for their hotel accommodation using PayPal, a leading global online payment service. With 75 million active users in 190 markets and online preference in the UK, US and Australia, PayPal provides a safer and easy way to pay for items and services online worldwide.

Agoda offers the best prices for hotels in India, with 2,987 hotels ready for instant reservation via the secure online booking engine. Destinations include New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Goa and Chennai. Agoda also offers last-minute bookings, both online and through its 24/7 live help customer support center. Agoda's properties are available for booking in India with rates beginning at only $7 per night, with no hidden fees.

"By adding PayPal to our website for safer and easy payment, we are offering more options and even greater flexibility to customers purchasing hotel accommodation with us from across the globe," said Mr. Robert Rosenstein, Chief Operating Officer, Agoda.com. "Offering PayPal on our site grants us access to PayPal's 75 million active users and provides the security and convenience that our travelers expect. We are also excited to announce some new joint marketing programs with PayPal in the form of promotional offers. Over the coming weeks, we will be offering our customers additional incentives when they pay using PayPal. Please check our website often for all of the details."

Since its founding in 1998, PayPal has grown to become a global leader in online payment solutions. PayPal allows Agoda's customers to transact securely without disclosure of financial information online.

"Millions of consumers around the world prefer to pay with PayPal because of its safety and simplicity," said Mario Shiliashki, general manager of PayPal Southeast Asia and India. "We are thrilled that Agoda is now offering its customers the ability to pay for hotels via PayPal. PayPal is proven to increase sales by an average 14 percent , as a result of delivering greater shopping convenience. We fully expect Agoda to benefit from its addition of PayPal as an online payment option on its site, by providing greater choice to its global customer base."

About Agoda

Agoda Company Pte Ltd (www.agoda.com) is a leading, Asia-based, online hotel reservations company, which specializes in securing the lowest discount hotel prices in Asia. Agoda.com is part of Priceline.com (Nasdaq:PCLN). Agoda's network includes over 7,000 hotels in Asia and more than 100,000 worldwide. The multinational staff of 350 professionals, located throughout Asia, provides a first-rate reservation service that uniquely combines local knowledge and local connections to provide the best hotel deals to both business and leisure travelers.

In addition, Agoda customers participate in the Agoda Rewards Program, earning further discounts and free stays. Unlike programs that limit travelers to a single chain, the Agoda Rewards Program allows customers to redeem Rewards Points at thousands of hotels around the globe, at any time. A member of the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA), Agoda's aim is to promote travel by making it more affordable and more accessible to more people.

About PayPal

PayPal is the faster, safer way to pay and get paid online. The service allows members to send and receive payments without disclosing financial information, with the flexibility to pay or get paid using a variety of secure payment options, including account balances, bank accounts (in approved countries), credit cards or promotional financing. With more than 75 million active accounts in 190 markets and 19 currencies around the world, PayPal enables global ecommerce.

In the U.S., PayPal is the most preferred payment service on the Web after Visa. In the UK and Australia, PayPal is the most preferred payment service on the Web.

PayPal's Total Payment Volume, the total value of transactions in 2008 represented nearly 9 percent of global e-commerce.

PayPal is headquartered in San Jose, California. Its international headquarters (PayPal Pte. Ltd.) is located in Singapore.

PayPal is an eBay company. More information about the company can be found at www.paypal.com.

Consumer advisory - PayPal Pte. Ltd., the holder of PayPal's stored value facility, does not require the approval of the Monetary Authority of Singapore. Users are advised to read the terms and conditions available at www.paypal.com carefully before use.


CONTACT DETAILS
Manas Bhardwaj, Vox Public Relations for PayPal, +91 9899876734, manasb@voxpr.co.in
Ekta Babbar, Vox Public Relations for PayPal, +91 9891164547, Ektab@voxpr.co.in
Jitthip Suthammanuwat, Agoda Company Pte Ltd, +662 625 9258, jitthip.suthammanuwat@agoda.com

KEYWORDS
CONSUMER, TOURISM, MARKETING, BANKING, BUSINESS SERVICES, IT, TRAVEL, TECHNOLOGY

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