IATA and Outpayce help airlines accept payments between accounts

Recent regulations in many markets allow merchants to accept payments from consumers via
direct account-to-account transfers. As airlines look to better meet the needs of travelers and reduce the overall cost of payments, account-to-account payments are becoming increasingly popular, representing a new option for travelers to pay for airline tickets.

For this reason, IATA and Outpayce have partnered to enable airlines to accept payments made with IATA Pay through Outpayce’s Xchange Payments Platform (XPP).

IATA Pay is an alternative account-to-account payment method for travellers to pay for airline tickets purchased online by direct debit from their bank account. It takes advantage of 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). Currently available in over 30 countries, IATA Pay improves the speed and security of payments, while reducing the costs of accepting them.

When a traveler reaches the checkout on an airline's website, the new account-to-account payment service allows them to select their bank or scan a QR code based on country. IATA uses the bank and payment details or the QR code approval to request a transfer from the passenger's account and the funds are transferred
using banking rails. IATA settles the funds with the airline the next day.

Juan Antonio Rodriguez, IATA's Director of Financial Settlement Operations, said: "The trend towards account-to-account payments is gaining momentum. It provides a seamless experience for passengers and is an attractive option for airlines to reduce the cost of accepting payments.

Through Outpayce, airlines using XPP can begin accepting IATA Pay while continuing to benefit from XPP's powerful orchestration, analytics and reporting capabilities."

Anna Isabel Bengzon, Chief Financial Officer of Philippine Airlines, said: “We are delighted to now accept IATA Pay in the Philippines. It will provide our passengers with a more convenient and secure way to pay via QR code using their digital wallets, which are widely used in the country, or through their bank accounts.” Outpayce’s XPP system helps us intelligently accept a wide range of payment methods used by travelers in the international markets we serve.

Additionally, we can access multiple payment methods and partners through XPP, with detailed analytics on payment flow performance and back-end reconciliation support."

Jean-Christophe Lacour, Senior Vice President and Head of Product Management and Delivery at Outpayce, added: “We are committed to helping travel companies accept the widest possible range of payment methods through a single connection to XPP, and IATA Pay represents an exciting new option for the industry. By
making it easier for partners to connect to XPP via self-service APIs, we aim to further expand this choice.”

IATA is one of the first partners to connect to Outpayce’s Xchange payment platform using its new self-service APIs, which will be piloted in 2024.

The addition of self-service APIs helps open up XPP, making it easier for any payments company or fintech to connect their services, increasing options for travel companies and further streamlining payment orchestration.

Source: Amadeus.