Companies across travel, finance and hospitality keep arriving at the same question: should we sell eSIM?

It sounds sensible. Travel eSIM adoption is accelerating, integrations are easier, and the margins can look attractive on a spreadsheet. Airlines, banks, booking platforms and loyalty programmes are testing the proposition. GSMA says 73% of mobile network operators now offer commercial eSIM services, while smartphone penetration is expected to rise from 5% globally at the end of 2025 to 10% by the end of 2026. That interest is understandable, but market momentum is not a product strategy.

But “should we sell eSIM?” is still the wrong question.

The better question is: which digital products genuinely belong inside our ecosystem, and what customer problem do they solve better because they come from us?

Start with the ecosystem

An ecosystem is not a catalogue of loosely related add-ons. Its products become more useful because they share context, timing, data and trust.

A traveller does not wake up wanting an airline-branded data bundle, a bank-branded transfer or hotel-branded insurance. They want the first hour after landing to work. They want their card accepted, directions loaded, the driver found and the booking retrieved without wrestling with airport Wi-Fi.

A product belongs when the company can place it at the right moment and remove friction from a journey it already understands.

READ MORE: Why Travel eSIM Is Becoming the New Roaming Default

Revolut is a useful example. Its eSIM sits beside foreign exchange, payments, travel benefits and paid plans. Customers buy data in the app they already use abroad, track usage and, on some plans, receive monthly global data. Connectivity reinforces an existing promise: making international money and travel less awkward.

AirAsia MOVE takes another route. Its app combines flights, hotels, transfers, activities and eSIM. Connectivity is one component of a wider trip marketplace. The logic is not “telecom is hot.” It is that someone assembling a journey may also need data at the destination.

Use the placement test

Before adding a digital product, companies should test four things: relevance, timing, ownership and repeat value.

Relevance asks whether it solves a problem connected to the core service. Timing asks whether the company meets the customer before the need appears. Ownership asks whether it controls enough of the experience to protect its brand. Repeat value asks whether the product improves retention, frequency or customer insight rather than producing one small commission.

eSIM performs well when these conditions line up.

An airline knows the destination and departure date. A bank sees international card activity. A hotel knows when a guest is arriving. A booking platform connects flights, accommodation and transport. Each has a natural trigger for offering connectivity without forcing another search.

READ MORE: Companies Want eSIM. Choosing the Right Partner Is the Hard Part

This is why newer airline integrations are more interesting than affiliate links. TAROM’s Ubigi partnership gives passengers 1 GB after booking, while KrisFlyer members flying Singapore Airlines or Scoot can receive a complimentary eSIM through Pelago. In both cases, connectivity is attached to a known trip and delivered before arrival. The value is commercial but also practical: fewer stranded customers, failed app interactions and broken handovers between flight and destination.

The weak version is a generic “buy eSIM” banner buried in a rewards tab. It may generate clicks, but it does not strengthen the ecosystem. It rents screen space to another seller.

Decide what belongs together

The most useful digital travel ecosystems will be built around moments, not product categories.

Before departure, the stack may include entry requirements, insurance, lounge access and eSIM installation. At arrival, it shifts to mobile data, transfers, payments and hotel messaging. During disruption, the valuable products are rebooking, accommodation, claims assistance and reliable communication.

That changes how companies should evaluate eSIM. It should not be judged only against other eSIM offers, but against every product competing for the same app placement, customer attention and integration budget.

For an airline, free connectivity may produce more loyalty value than another coupon. For a hotel group, transport tracking or direct guest messaging may solve a bigger problem. For a bank, eSIM can fit premium travel accounts, but less so when it becomes another marketplace tile beside unrelated discounts.

There is also a brand question. Connectivity fails visibly. When activation is confusing, coverage disappoints, or support is passed between partners, customers blame the brand presenting the offer. Companies without the appetite to manage those moments should consider a referral model, a tightly scoped benefit, or no eSIM product.

The next competitive layer

The market is moving beyond standalone resale. Revolut has expanded from travel data toward broader mobile connectivity. Airlines are linking eSIM to bookings and loyalty. Travel apps combine it with hotels, transport and activities. IATA has noted that airlines increasingly use digital channels to cross-sell ancillary, bundled and partner products to improve revenue and customer stickiness.

The advantage will not come from having an eSIM button. Many companies can add one.

READ MORE: Airline-Integrated eSIM Data Plans: The Future of Seamless Travel Connectivity

It will come from orchestration: knowing who needs which service, presenting it at the right moment, making activation almost invisible and improving the wider journey.

That requires stronger product governance than most partner marketplaces show. Someone must decide what deserves to be inside the ecosystem, what should remain external and what is merely clutter disguised as innovation. eSIM digital ecosystem

Conclusion: Build the journey, not the shelf

The likely winners will not sell the most digital extras. They will make a small number of products feel inevitable.

Revolut’s model works because connectivity supports an international lifestyle proposition. Airline offers work when data arrives within booking or loyalty. AirAsia MOVE fits a wider travel-commerce model. None proves every bank, airline, hotel or tourism platform needs an eSIM.

They prove something more useful: distribution works when the product belongs.

The strategic task is to identify the moments your company owns, the friction customers still experience and the services that can remove it without weakening trust. Sometimes the answer is eSIM. Sometimes it is insurance, identity, transport, support or payments. Often, the smartest decision is to integrate fewer things, but integrate them properly.

So stop asking whether your company should sell eSIM.

Ask what your ecosystem should help the customer accomplish. Give connectivity a place only when the journey is genuinely better with it there.