Airbnb Checkout

Transforming global checkout and payments to drive revenue growth.
Part 2 of 2

 

SECTION 3: LOCAL PAYMENT METHODS

Overview:
In 2024, Airbnb aggressively expanded Local Payment Methods, adding 22+ options to increase conversion rates and access new user bases, particularly in Southeast Asia, Europe, and Brazil.

Design Challenge:
Scalable payment systems needed to accommodate diverse regional payment methods, each with unique UX patterns—direct, redirect, and async flows—along with different refund processes, authorization vs. transaction handling, and regulatory requirements.

UPI India end-to-end flow

Frameworks for direct, indirect and async payment methods

Brazil Installments
• Enabled access for users preferring installment payment structures
• +14% increase in installment adoption

Key 2024 Launches
Brazil:
• PIX — Used by 76%+ of Brazil's population, surpassed traditional cards by late 2024
• Installments — Popular payment option for Brazilian market

Europe:
• Twint (Switzerland)
• iDEAL (Netherlands)
• Sofort Überweisung (Germany)
• BLIK (Poland)
• MBWay (Portugal)
• Cartes Bancaires (France)
• Bancontact (Belgium)

Asia-Pacific:
• Kakao Pay (South Korea)
• Naver Pay (South Korea) — 30M+ active users
• UPI and Netbanking (India)
• PromptPay (Thailand)
• FPX (Malaysia)
• Gcash (Philippines)

Additional Markets:
• Vipps (Norway)
• MobilePay (Denmark/Finland)
• M-PESA (Kenya, East Africa)
• Alipay and WeChat Pay (China)
• MoMo (Vietnam)

Technical Innovation:
Developed dynamic payment frameworks to handle specialized user inputs for local methods, such as requiring CPF tax ID for PIX in Brazil. Created modular design systems that adapt to regional requirements while maintaining consistency.

Regional Best Practices:
Addressed unique challenges including pricing display regulations, refund capabilities, varying authorization and settlement models, holds/deposits, and localized user expectations.

  • Business Results:

  • 22+ local payment methods launched

  • Annual Revenue: Reached $11.1 billion in 2024 (a 12% increase) and grew to $12.2 billion by the end of 2025.

  • Gross Booking Value (GBV): Totaled nearly $82 billion in 2024, driven by 491 million nights and experiences booked.

  • Cross-Border Growth: International cross-border bookings increased by 17% year-over-year as of early 2024, aided by more flexible payment and currency options.

  • Growth rate in expansion markets more than 2x that of core market

    Strategy Impact:
    Local payment options are crucial to enabling bookings for users without traditional credit cards, expanding Airbnb's addressable market globally and removing barriers to entry in key growth regions.

 

SECTION 4: MONTHLY STAYS

Business Results:
• +14% Guest Trip Insurance (GTI) policies sold
• +13% GTI booking attach rate
• +11% Insurance commission USD
• Significant positive lift in uncancelled bookings, nights booked, and GBV

OVERALL IMPACT SUMMARY

Collective Results:
The payments team's multi-pronged approach—combining flexible payment options, local payment expansion, and intelligent checkout design—delivered significant business impact:

Strategic Outcomes:
• Removed payment friction across global markets
• Expanded addressable market through local payment access
• Increased conversion through pricing psychology and urgency messaging
• Drove longer booking lead times and higher average daily rates
• Positioned Airbnb as a sophisticated payment orchestrator with multi-layered flexible finance approach

 
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