Thomas Cook Money: building a brand new financial services company

23 January 2018 — 1 min read

Travel & Leisure

Business Strategy

In a uniquely structured risk-reward agreement, we’re building a brand new financial services company with one clear mission – to help people have more & better holidays. We’ve been working in close partnership from day 1 building the business & products that define a whole new category of holiday money….

“Digital disruption has thrown down a challenge to every industry. The launch of Thomas Cook Money, under the leadership of Anth Mooney, is our opportunity to transform the world of holiday money by embracing the very latest technology, both to serve our existing customers better and to appeal to a new set of customers with an innovative and fresh approach.” – Peter Fankhauser, Chief Executive of Thomas Cook.

Why Elixirr?

Anth Mooney, the new Chief Financial Services Officer at Thomas Cook Money, had previously worked with us in his role as Head of Financial Services at Virgin Money. He was sold on our ability to deliver his vision having seen what we do and how we do it and so engaged us on his very first day in his new role.

01 Overview

Thomas Cook Money launched in November 2017 to transform the holiday money and insurance services it provides to its customers. It aims to take care of holiday money all year round, not just for the 2 weeks of a holiday. It will be the world’s first financial services company born from a heritage of travel, providing financial solutions for holidaymakers and travelers alike.

02 Outcome

Working together with us, they have built and grown a brand new business, launching three digital products in the first 9 months.

03 Method

Strategy, innovation, organization design, operations, project management, design thinking and rapid prototyping.

The challenge

We were initially brought on to help define the global strategy for Thomas Cook Money (TCM). Having successfully achieved this and delivered beyond expectations, we have now established a strategic 5-year partnership to implement the strategy and take the company to new heights. True to form, we will be putting our skin in the game and investing our fees throughout the 5 years in return for a profit share at the end of the partnership

The approach

After helping to define the global strategy for TCM for both UK and new markets, we managed the launch of two brand new products: Roam: innovative new pay-as-you-go travel insurance, and Lyk: a digital pre-paid card. We also provided capability and commercial assessments of proposed partners during the initial stages of Sumo, the mobile banking app. New commercial propositions are continuously sought out and strategically assessed – and we do this collaboratively.

At the heart of the strategy is finding innovative solutions to help people have more and better holidays, and bringing these to market with speed and agility. So, we set up an innovation function within TCM and took their executive team to Silicon Valley to explore the possibilities and inspire new ways of working. In parallel to this immersion session in Silicon Valley, we took advantage of our innovation ecosystem to help them create their own startup network which included their investment in Fund IV of Seedcamp. We are now in conversation with three other technology startups who we feel have the potential to enter into truly innovative partnerships with TCM. #skyisthelimit

Together, we set up a support function to ensure the smooth running of the business. Using the principles of design thinking and rapid prototyping, we helped TCM implement a new way of working across their whole business, and the results are speaking for themselves.

The value delivered

Thomas Cook Money was successfully launched to the market in November 2017. The business was set up, complete with an initial operating model and rhythm, in just 9 months (a business like this usually takes 2 years to build!). We’re continuing to be rigorous, bold and enthusiastic in delivering the kind of strategic and creative support that the business expects from a firm like ours.

What will the next 5 years of our partnership bring? We’re excited to find out how this ambitious story unfolds. Watch this space…

We have 175 years’ experience of providing holidays for millions of customers. TCM is therefore uniquely placed to meet holidaymakers’ demand for hassle-free money solutions. Elixirr has been here with us from day 1, making our ideas & concepts a reality, so it was an easy decision to put a 5-year strategic partnership in place. A new division like Thomas Cook Money would typically take 2 years to build, but we have managed to build it together in just 9 months. The quality of the Elixirr team & their network have been fully aligned with our vision. We are very ambitious & are excited about what this partnership will deliver. Together, we want to define a whole new category of holiday money.

Anth Mooney – CEO, Thomas Cook Money