In this conversation with Ameya Sood, AVP of Product – Payments at ixigo, we explore how one of India’s most loved travel platforms is redefining travel bookings for the next billion users. From its early bet on train tech to becoming a full-stack travel super app, ixigo’s journey has been marked by bold decisions and customer-first innovations. We dive into the role of digital payments- especially cards – in powering this journey. With a significant portion of their users opting for card payments, ixigo has focused on eliminating friction at checkout. A strategic partnership with Razorpay has enabled ixigo to deliver smoother, faster, and more reliable payment experiences – driving both higher success rates, unlocking GMV, and delighting users with the best checkout experience across millions of transactions.
Let’s dive in:
1. ixigo has become a household name in travel and tourism. Can you share the story behind ixigo’s creation?
Back in 2007, two IIT Kanpur grads – Aloke Bajpai and Rajnish Kumar – returned to India after working in Madrid with a simple idea: make travel easier for everyday Indians. Inspired by Swades, Aloke felt a strong pull to build something meaningful at home- and that’s how ixigo was born. While others focused on flights and hotels, ixigo took a bold bet on train travel. By 2017, we expanded into bookings—starting with trains and eventually adding flights, buses, and hotels- becoming a full-stack travel app. Designed for India’s next billion users, ixigo went public in 2024, and we continued our focus on accessibility, building features for small-town travelers, low-connectivity zones, and multilingual needs. And through it all, the mission remains the same: to make travel smarter, simpler, and more inclusive for all.
2. Digital payments have transformed customer experiences. Where do they fit into ixigo’s overall strategy, and how do they enhance the travel booking process?
Seamless digital payments are integral to ixigo’s strategy of delivering a convenient and user-friendly travel booking experience. By integrating multiple payment methods and backup for each of the methods, we provide our customers with secure, flexible, and convenient options to complete their bookings on our platform. This not only minimizes friction during the payment process but also builds greater trust in our services.With growing awareness and trust in digital payments, India has emerged as a global leader in instant payment adoption. This transformation has made life significantly simpler, allowing users to make purchases with just a click.
3. What led ixigo to choose Razorpay as its payment partner? Was there a specific challenge or opportunity Razorpay helped address?
Razorpay has been our preferred Payment Aggregator for several years now, and our collaboration has been mutually enriching, with a robust feedback loop that captures the pulse of its merchants. Together, we’ve explored new features both for payments and refunds that help in establishing trust in the money movement system which in turn enhances the booking experience.Our decision to onboard Razorpay as a payment partner was driven by their ability to address specific challenges such as optimizing success rates, simplifying user flows, and ensuring instant refunds. Innovative features like TokenHQ and Native OTP flows for card transactions have been instrumental in resolving pain points in our payment journey, ensuring smoother, faster, and more reliable checkouts.For a customer-obsessed company like ours, this partnership adds immense value as we prioritize identifying and addressing pain points to immediately improve user experiences.
4. What percentage of ixigo’s transactions are processed through online channels? Of these, what proportion utilizes Razorpay’s Cards Stack?
As a B2C brand in the Online Travel Booking space, ixigo operates online, with all transactions processed digitally. A considerable chunk of transactions are processed through Cards, which continue to be a trusted payment method for a significant segment of our user base.
5. In a particular month alone, ixigo has seen a 2.43% bump in Card Success Rate, with more than 5 Cr of incremental GTV by using SR boosting features on cards. How does ixigo view these results, and what impact have they had on customer satisfaction and retention?
Razorpay stands out for its merchant-centric integration technology. The consistent improvement in card success rates has been truly remarkable, driven by Razorpay’s SR boosting features. We are particularly impressed with CVV-less and Direct OTP features. The CVV-less flow eliminates the need for users to remember their CVV, encouraging greater adoption of card payments. Similarly, the OTP Assist & Auto-submit feature simplifies the process by allowing users to autofill their OTP directly on the ixigo payment page, bypassing clunky bank OTP pages.
These optimizations may seem small, but their impact is significant—both in terms of incremental GMV and user experience. The increase in GMV clearly demonstrates how such enhancements directly influence revenue. More importantly, these improvements have elevated customer satisfaction by reducing failed transactions, fostering better retention and trust among our users.
At ixigo, we leave no stone unturned when it comes to enhancing customer experiences. With Razorpay, we’ve been able to experiment and implement nearly every new feature they’ve introduced. Our commitment to making payments a “no experience” journey drives us to continuously refine and optimize the process, ensuring a seamless and frictionless experience for our users.
6. With ixigo’s firsthand experience of Razorpay’s services, what would you say to other travel platforms or businesses considering Razorpay as a payment partner?
Based on our experience, we strongly recommend Razorpay to online platforms and businesses of all sizes. Their innovative solutions, proactive support, and exceptional ability to adapt to the unique needs of each business make them a truly valuable partner. Whether you’re a large enterprise or a growing startup, Razorpay offers a comprehensive suite of solutions designed to drive seamless and efficient payment experiences!
