How Worldline helped WeVan increase online reservations and simplify van hire for customers and franchisees.

WeVan is meeting growing demand for hiring minibuses and campervans, supported by Worldline’s expertise in online payments.

3 min.

Worldline Online Payments Travel & Hospitality

Hit the road with WeVan.

WeVan is the leading van hire network in France. Its network consists of 34 agencies across the country, with a fleet of 700 vehicles, including campervans and minibuses. In 2022, WeVan recorded 7,800 bookings and served over 40,000 customers.

Founded in France in 2010 by Joseph and Augustin, 2 schoolfriends who had travelled around the world, the company runs an efficient online reservation system, providing year-round vehicle hire to customers.

WeVan’s success largely relies on its website as the main driver of visibility. It has a double entry point for campervans and minibuses to cater to the needs of these 2 very different customer segments for campervans and minibuses. Everything is custom-built. “Thanks to this approach, WeVan has remained in control of its developments and strategic decisions,” Joseph explains.

Read on to learn about how the company’s partnership with Worldline has continued over a decade and helped take WeVan to the next level.

The challenge: to optimise WeVan’s franchisees’ online transactions.

WeVan initially turned to Worldline in 2013 to support the company’s aim to expand its network of franchisees through a reliable online payments solution and simplified administrative procedures.

When WeVan approached Worldline they wanted a partner who could help them accept online payments and handle transaction management. They were looking for a reliable, cost-effective solution that would support the rapid growth of WeVan’s franchisees.

"Smooth operations are crucial for our seasonal business, particularly during the peak booking period from February to the end of May. Any technical malfunction would have a very negative impact on our company. In the 10 years we’ve worked together, we have never encountered any issues. Worldline's online payment interface offers many useful features that simplify payment management. We can optimise our work with various parameters, such as one-click customer refunds.” 

Joseph Teyssier, Co-founder, WeVan

The solution: simplified payment management from Worldline.

Worldline offered WeVan a complete solution that met their needs including the 'Group Manager' option, which allows WeVan to directly monitor the online transactions of its franchised agencies and provides them with technical, financial, and administrative support.

For WeVan, a significant advantage of Worldline’s online payments solution is its price. Franchisees are often small businesses concerned about profitability and they do not want to make major investments in technological solutions.

Worldline helped WeVan improve its payment flow management from the platform to franchisees, avoiding cash retention within the network. Worldline’s solution bypasses the need to manually send payments back to franchisees, by doing this automatically and instantaneously.

"Worldline offers an excellent balance between cost and technology. Their solution is reliable and affordable. Why look elsewhere? We have no reason to change, especially since we receive excellent support from our Key Account Manager."

Joseph Teyssier, Co-founder, WeVan

Optimised payments accelerate WeVan’s continued growth.

With an annual growth rate of 40% to 50%, which WeVan attributes in part to Worldline’s support over the past 10 years, upcoming projects are primarily focused on the booking experience and customer satisfaction. “It is essential for the consumer to feel completely reassured when providing their card details, knowing that their next holiday booking is completely secure,” Joseph says.

WeVan and Worldline are working to remove any obstacles at checkout, redesigning the booking process by directly integrating the payment page on the WeVan website through an iFrame. This ensures that customers are not redirected to another page to finalise their payment and can enjoy an even smoother experience.

As mobile usage continues to rise, WeVan is also investing in improvements to customer experience on the mobile version of its website, as currently 75% of its traffic comes from mobile, yet only 40% of bookings are made through this channel.

To offer even more flexibility to customers during the booking process, WeVan is considering expanding the payment methods offered through Worldline, such as instalment payments, Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL), bank transfers, as well as mobile wallets such as Apple Pay or Google Pay.

Key benefits and results.

The partnership with Worldline is contributing to a growth rate of 40% to 50% per year for WeVan.
Simplified administrative and financial procedures between the WeVan parent company and its franchised agencies.
The transfer of payments from the platform to WeVan franchisees is automatic and instant, avoiding cash retention in the network and with no manual procedures required.
Simplified payment management, including one-click customer refunds.
Reliable and cost-effective for small businesses like WeVan franchisees.
Potential to offer alternative payment methods such as BNPL, bank transfers and wallets.