The International Air Transport Association (IATA) and travel payment solution provider, Outpayce, are partnering to enable airlines across the globe to accept account-to-account payments.
That’s why IATA and Outpayce are partnering so airlines can now accept payments made with IATA Pay through Outpayce’s Xchange Payments Platform (XPP).
The news comes as airlines worldwide continue to explore how they can reduce the overall cost of payments, while meeting the needs of travellers to the best of their ability. Account-to-account payments are becoming increasingly popular and represent a new option for travellers to pay for air tickets.
IATA Pay is an alternative account-to-account form of payment for travellers to pay for air tickets purchased online by directly debiting their bank account. It leverages the new account-to-account rails and regulations developed by countries around the world such as India (UPI), the Netherlands (Ideal), Brazil (PIX) or the Philippines (QR Ph). IATA Pay is currently available in over 30 countries.
Jean-Christophe Lacour, SVP and head of product management and delivery at Outpayce, explained: “We’re committed to helping travel companies accept the widest possible range of payment methods through a single connection to XPP and IATA Pay represents an interesting new option for the industry.”
When a traveller reaches checkout on an airline’s website the new account-to-account payment service enables them to select their bank or scan a QR code depending on the country.
IATA uses the payment and bank details or the QR code’s approval to request a transfer from the passenger’s account and the funds are transferred using the banking rails. IATA settles the funds with the airline the following day.
Account-to-account-to-airlines
Juan Antonio Rodriguez, director of financial settlement operations at the IATA, said: “The trend towards account-to-account payments is gaining more momentum. It provides a seamless experience for passengers and provides an attractive option for airlines to lower the cost of payment acceptance. Through Outpayce, airlines using XPP can begin to accept IATA Pay while still benefiting from XPP’s powerful orchestration, analytics and reporting capabilities.”
IATA is one of the first partners to connect to Outpayce’s XPP using its new self-service APIs, being piloted in 2024. The addition of self-service APIs helps to open XPP, making it easier for any payments or fintech company to connect its services, which increases choice for travel companies and further optimizes payment orchestration.
Anna Isabel Bengzon, chief financial officer at Philippine Airlines, also commented: “We are pleased to now accept IATA Pay in the Philippines. It will provide our passengers with a more convenient and secure way of paying via QR code using their digital wallets, which is highly prevalent in the country, or through their bank accounts.
“Outpayce’s XPP system helps us to intelligently accept a wide range of payment methods used by travellers across the international markets we serve. Moreover, we can access various payment methods and partners through XPP, with detailed analytics on the performance of payment flows and back-end reconciliation support.”
