Customer stories

BlaBlaCar blazes a trail with Adyen

As BlaBlaCar moved into the fast lane, it needed a powerful payments engine to help drive its global growth.

June 10, 2016
 ·  3 minutes
BlaBlaCar blazes a trail with Adyen

Like most good ideas, BlaBlaCar was born from a real need. Back in 2003, founder Frédéric Mazzella needed ride home for Christmas. He had no car, the trains were full and the roads were teeming with cars that had empty seats. 

BlaBlaCar has since grown into a trusted community marketplace, connecting drivers with empty seats to passengers travelling in the same direction. Today the company has 30 million members across 22 countries, with 12 million people coordinating their journeys via the BlaBlaCar platform every quarter. 

As BlaBlaCar’s international expansion accelerated, it needed a payments partner capable of keeping pace. The company’s number one priority remains the speed and efficiency of its platform, and payments have to fit in. Adyen, with its global reach, coupled with its scalable payments infrastructure, was an ideal partner to support BlaBlaCar’s future expansion. The two companies went into partnership in November 2014.

Finding the best route with local payments

BlaBlaCar is a low-cost travel option, and many users do not have credit cards. As BlaBlaCar expanded across Europe, the company entered markets where localpayment methodsdominate over international credit cards. In the Netherlands, for example, iDEAL accounts for over 60% of online transactions, and in Poland online banking methods such as Dotpay account for 45%. 

"With Adyen, moving into new markets can be as easy as flipping a switch and adding a new payment method."

Thanks to Adyen’s support of all popular payment methods, it is possible for BlaBlaCar to cater to local preferences and support targeted payment methods, all of which are managed from a single system. 

“With Adyen, moving into new markets can be as easy as flipping a switch and adding a new payment method. This has been very helpful as we expanded into 6 countries in a single year.” Amelie Seguret

On the mobile highway

BlaBlaCar’s mobile app allows its users to make travel arrangements and even set up last-minute journeys with just a few taps. The success of this app has led BlaBlaCar to launch mobile-first in many new markets. 

Of course to ensure success, a smooth mobile payment flow is crucial. With Adyen, BlaBlaCar can provide a consistent experience across any device.

Whether the user is paying in the native app, or via a mobile browser, the checkout has been designed to delight the user and drive conversions on any screen size. And, as allmarketplace paymentsfeed into the same system, BlaBlaCar can see transactions across all devices in a single view. 

“Most journeys are arranged using the BlaBlaCar app, and with Adyen we can be sure that the quality of our user experience is consistent – right through to checkout.” Amelie Seguret

Continuing the global journey

Over the years, the two companies have grown together. Adyen’s capabilities have expanded to cope with the increasingly complex demands associated with running a global marketplace, supporting its expansion at each step. 

“Adyen is the ideal partner to help us realize our goal of becoming the biggest people-powered transport network in the world."

So with just one contract and one technical integration, BlaBlaCar can accept payments from all over the world, letting users pay at their utmost convenience, in the ways they know and trust.  

“Adyen is the ideal partner to help us realize our goal of becoming the biggest people-powered transport network in the world. We can always count on a high quality of service, whatever the market conditions.

The team works tirelessly to come up with the best solutions, and optimize our processes every step of the way – powering our on-going global expansion.” Amelie Seguret




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