An exclusive interview, Booking.com's Product Lead for partner payments reveals why the travel giant is deliberately focusing on perfecting its core payout infrastructure before chasing the buzz of new fintech innovations.
For a global powerhouse like Booking.com, the world of fintech presents a universe of possibilities. The pressure to innovate is constant, from the allure of stablecoin payouts to the demand for embedded finance solutions. Yet, within the travel giant’s sprawling operations, a more pragmatic philosophy governs its approach to payments: serve the core business first. This means managing a vast and complex ecosystem of partners, from major hotel chains to individuals renting out a single room for the first time.
At Money20/20 Europe, we sat down with Dmytro Kononenko, Product Lead for partner payments at Booking.com. His team’s mission is clear: ensure its millions of diverse partners receive payments on time and at low cost, anywhere in the world.
Booking.com keeps a close watch on emerging payment trends, understanding that preparation is key. “We want to be ready when, a couple of years down the line, partners say ‘we want to get paid with stablecoin’ or whatever,” Kononenko explains. “We want to be ready for that, not be surprised.”
The company builds this readiness on three pillars: a commitment to innovation, a culture of experimentation, and a constant feedback loop with partners and guests. However, the team views every new opportunity through a critical lens. This is essential when navigating the difficult balance between exploring every idea and focusing on what moves the needle for the entire platform.
“We are a travel company first of all,” he states with emphasis. “One of the main goals of the fintech department at Booking.com is to help Booking’s growth.” This principle acts as a filter, ensuring that fintech initiatives directly support and enhance the core travel experience for partners and their guests.
This “travel-first” mindset means perfecting the fundamentals before exploring niche offerings. For Kononenko, this is the central theme for the near future. “2025 is about making our basics strong,” he asserts. The primary goal is to close existing gaps in their service, ensuring all partners can receive their money quickly and reliably. The ideal, he notes, is a payout the day after a guest checks in.
“We are looking at the products that help partners forget about payments and focus on their main business, which is travel,” he adds. This focus is particularly important for the growing segment of new, smaller-scale hosts and “digital nomads” who need a simple, dependable payment experience to feel comfortable and succeed on the platform.
Once the company solidifies these foundational elements universally, it can then look ahead. “2026 onwards is for looking at what we can unlock in new products and opportunities,” says Kononenko. This deliberate, phased approach ensures that future innovations are built on a solid and reliable base.
The rise of AI and large language models (LLMs) is another area of focus, but here too, pragmatism rules. Booking.com views this technology not as a threat, but as a powerful tool to support its core mission. While the company invests heavily in AI-powered tools for travellers to plan and book trips, the fintech side remains more operational.
“We are trying to understand how AI can make payment support easier for guests or for partners when they have some problems,” Kononenko notes. The sheer scale of the operation—with millions of partners and guests interacting daily—creates a huge volume of support queries. Using AI to handle these inbound requests more efficiently is a clear win, freeing up human agents to tackle more complex issues.
Ultimately, Booking.com’s fintech strategy is a masterclass in strategic patience. It recognizes that for the vast majority of its global partners, the most valuable innovation isn’t a speculative new payment method. It is the certainty of a fast, frictionless, and “invisible” payout process that allows them to focus on what they do best: providing world-class hospitality.