Challenge

As an innovator in the events management industry, EventsAir has spent the last 35 years growing its SaaS platform to help event organizers plan and manage events. The platform has powered more than 400,000 events worldwide for companies including Microsoft, MCI Group, and the Australian Medical Association.

Previously, EventsAir supported third-party payment gateways, allowing event organizers to bring their preferred providers to the platform. While this flexibility initially served diverse customer needs, it eventually created challenges that impacted EventsAir’s ability to deliver consistent, high-quality service to its users.

With more than 170 different gateways in use, the model became increasingly complex and unsustainable. Each gateway necessitated an extensive manual onboarding process, which required EventsAir to manage relationships with every payment provider, maintain a backlog of upcoming changes, and ensure thorough platform testing. This complexity made it harder to deliver fast, reliable service and impacted the company’s ability to roll out updates or respond to market needs at speed.

It also introduced limitations for event planners. Many faced inconsistent payment experiences, friction at checkout, and restricted currency and payment method support, especially when running events in new or international markets.

To continue meeting the changing needs of its customers, EventsAir needed to simplify its operations and mitigate the risks associated with maintaining compliance, frequent updates, and industry best practices. The company also wanted a smoother onboarding process for new event organizers.

EventsAir sought a robust embedded payments solution that would provide more payment methods, enhanced capabilities, and monetization options. Given the industry’s fast pace, speed to market was key, so EventsAir prioritized finding a partner that could work closely with the company to launch quickly.

Solution

After evaluating options against key use cases, EventsAir selected Stripe to power its payment expansion. Stripe’s prebuilt functionality was a major factor. “We’d considered another in-house solution, but Stripe was so plug-and-play, it weighed heavily into our decision,” said Helen McArthur, head of EventsAir Pay and compliance officer.

EventsAir partnered with Stripe professional services to design and implement its new payment solution, EventsAir Pay. The company had a clear plan for launch and knew expert guidance would be important to go to market quickly. “This was an investment we knew we had to make,” said McArthur.

EventsAir Pay implemented Stripe Connect to expand payment capabilities across the platform. Connect enables event organizers to accept payments throughout an event. Attendees can register and pay for dinners, merchandise, and experiences directly on the platform, creating a more cohesive payment experience.

EventsAir also uses Connect’s platform pricing tool to set up payments pricing for event organizers in different countries, designing and implementing pricing strategies without code changes.

The company implemented Stripe Payments to scale its payments and offer multicurrency capabilities for expanding into new markets. This reduced third-party payment gateways from 170 to 21, simplifying platform management and improving risk and compliance.

EventsAir implemented Stripe’s Optimized Checkout Suite, including Adaptive Pricing to automatically serve attendees with localized prices across 150+ countries, increasing cross-border revenue and facilitating expansion into new markets. Adaptive Pricing’s built-in AI models dynamically surface the most relevant payment methods at each transaction. EventsAir also enabled Link, a wallet built by Stripe that securely saves and autofills the registrant’s address and payment details for quicker transactions.

To streamline its invoicing process to event organizers, EventsAir implemented Stripe Payment Links, which connects directly with the company’s enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, Zoho.

Results

Six months saved in implementation time with Stripe professional services

EventsAir’s partnership with Stripe professional services saved the company up to six months on its go-to-market timeline. The collaboration gave EventsAir added confidence in Stripe and its own capabilities as a global player. “With professional services, I know I’ll get an answer,” said McArthur. “They’re a game-changer for Stripe.”

Up to 155 days saved on average in the onboarding process

Stripe’s hosted onboarding flow has simplified the process for event organizers, reducing the time and number of steps required to start accepting payments in EventsAir. Before Stripe, onboarding took event organizers an average of 156 days. Now, many complete the process in just one day.

EventsAir onboarded 142 event organizers to Stripe, achieving a 99% satisfaction rate. “We have very happy customers; it has been a privilege to be a part of this,” said McArthur. “Some of these organizers have even made the switch to Stripe for their own businesses.”

87% reduction in third-party payment gateways with Stripe Payments

With Payments, EventsAir reduced its third-party payment gateways by 87%, eliminating the need to onboard new gateways. Event organizers can now complete Stripe’s hosted onboarding flow and prepare for their events without worrying about setting up a payment gateway or ongoing maintenance.

This consolidation has also saved EventsAir operational time, as the company no longer manages support questions, fraud attacks, and testing when changes occur—including development, penetration, and compliance testing. With fewer relationships to maintain and Stripe handling all updates, risk, and compliance, EventsAir can refocus its resources on platform enhancements that drive innovation and business growth.

Expansion into new markets with multicurrency capabilities and more payment methods

Moving to Stripe Payments and the Optimized Checkout Suite has made it easier for EventsAir to expand to new markets with multicurrency capabilities and access new payment methods. EventsAir initially launched EventsAir Pay on Stripe in Australia, New Zealand, the UK, the EU, and the US, and has since expanded to Canada, Singapore, the UAE, Hong Kong, Switzerland, and Japan.

The Stripe professional services team’s strategic guidance helped EventsAir become fully operational in South Africa—where the company had previously been unable to operate due to complex regulatory requirements—by integrating Paystack, a local payment provider required for operating locally.