Fora Releases New Client Management Features, including the Vault, a Secure Payment Card Collection & Storage Solution

At Fora, our obsession with travel and technology takes us on a never-ending quest for both adventure and innovation, and we channel this energy into building best-in-class tools that empower our advisors to sell travel seamlessly. 

This week, we’re unveiling the Vault, a travel advisor tool to seamlessly collect and securely store client credit & debit card information. The Vault is an integrated component of our new client management solution, and serves as the foundation for Fora’s next big step forward with its integrated booking platform designed to transform trip research and booking travel.

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The booking process was in serious need of an upgrade. So we created the solution

The Vault’s power starts in the booking process: it eliminates the most annoying, awkward and outdated part of advisors’ jobs: collecting payment information from their clients when it’s time to book. With the Vault, Fora Advisors can now send a secure link to clients via email, text, you name it — and voila! Once a client uploads their credit card information, it is automatically and securely stored inside of a client profile inside Fora's advisor Portal, our custom-built website for Fora Advisors to do all their work as a travel advisor. Clients can upload multiple payment cards with the option to assign nicknames to each card, making conversations to finalize bookings as easy as “charge it to my work card.” 

“Our goal is to make our advisors' job as seamless as possible,” Jake Peters, Fora’s Co-Founder & Chief Product and Technology Officer, explained. “The Vault is designed as a straightforward, but powerful solution that unlocks a wide range of functionality and creates a ton of value for travel advisors.” 

Before unleashing any new product or feature into the wild, Fora selects a group of advisors for beta testing, creating a dynamic feedback loop. We have been beta testing the Vault with 127 Fora Advisors and in the past two weeks, they have used it to store 542 cards. Advisors have reported that it is easy to use and helpful with their clients, and their feedback also paved the way for additional features that were built into the client management system. 

“I love the flexibility and ease of being able to send a secure link to clients to add their payment details,” Fora Advisor Natalie Kurtzman said. “I often need to reference my clients’ payment details multiple times throughout the travel planning process, so it’s crucial that I can access them quickly and securely.” 

Alli Widman, another experienced Fora Advisor, explained how Vault has been a game changer for her. 

“Rather than playing phone tag, or asking clients to text credit card info, we can now share a link, making it easier for everyone,” Widman said. “I also love that once we have the information, all future bookings will be easier.” 

The Vault is a new cornerstone custom feature within the Fora Advisor Portal that securely consolidates each Fora Advisors’ client information into one centralized location. And it’s not just about credit card info. Fora Advisors can create complete client profiles that include essential notes on travel preferences, loyalty programs, and those oh-so-special dates like anniversaries and birthdays. 

The Vault provides a 360-degree view of clients and their travel needs, enabling advisors to enhance the booking process and deliver unparalleled, tailor-made travel experiences. Fora Advisors are also able to see trip booking data and dollar amounts, offering them a holistic view to understand which clients have done the most (or aggregated highest dollar value) bookings with them.   

Building The Vault, like everything we do at Fora, was a true team effort

Fora’s in-house Product, Engineering and Ops team diligently collaborates to develop and design custom features and tools that remain aligned and in tandem with travel advisors' evolving needs. Our talented team of engineers, designers, product managers and data analysts opted for a well-established and widely used tech stack that allows them to build rapidly and reliably. 

“Building in today’s era is fun because the tech enables easy deployment of creative solutions,” Peters said. “With so much possibility, our dev team works very closely with our network of advisors to translate what they need into impactful solutions.”  

Fora’s ongoing interactions with our network of advisors have been instrumental in guiding Fora technology since day one. We put our advisors in the driver’s seat for this tech evolution, and are constantly tapping into what they need to create functional and cutting-edge tooling. Fusing our technical team's expertise with the insights and needs of our advisors is what makes us a transformative game changer, trailblazing the way in the travel industry.

“I’m really proud of how engaged our advisors are,” Peters said. “They are like, ‘thanks, this is amazing! And here are five ways it could be even better.’ I love this because I know we can’t get everything right ourselves and when you have users who take the time to provide detailed feedback, it really means they are engaged and care.” 

Here are the main features of client cards as of launching:

The Vault’s secure payment card storage

Fora Advisors can collect their client’s credit card info once and store it securely for easy access for future bookings. Clients can enter their card details themselves via a secure link. No more confusion over the best way to relay and store private data: the Vault is designed to build trust with clients thanks to its secure features and professional interface.

Loyalty programs

Fora Advisors can now store clients’ loyalty program info in client profiles, saving clients time and hassle by adding their loyalty program info to their booking on their behalf.

Important dates

Fora Advisors can store anniversaries, birthdays, kids’ school vacations, whatever dates might be important to their client’s travel calendar. Important dates help travel advisors think ahead and make travel suggestions based on their client’s life details — big and small. This is an advisor's opportunity to take the initiative, be proactive and help their clients get the most out of their travel budget.

Notes section

Here, Fora Advisors can keep useful miscellaneous reminders about clients’ travel preferences, dream vacations, favorite food or dietary restrictions — whatever will help make a client’s trip even more special.

“Fora is constantly innovating on the tech side and striving to improve the advisor experience,” Widman said. “The Vault is a big step forward. We have already seen big improvements to our booking process just in the last few weeks. We can't wait for what’s to come!”

The release of client cards and the Vault is another sign of Fora’s unwavering commitment to continue building tools to empower travel advisors to seamlessly sell travel — and it also is the key component for Fora’s forthcoming integrated booking platform. Stay tuned for more tech announcements from Fora.

Convinced yet? Sign up to become a Fora Advisor today.