The Travel Industry Boards the Fintech Revolution

• Amadeus partners with MasterCard to deliver fast, secure and automated B2B travel payments

• Amadeus and Ixaris partner to simplify virtual payments for travel agencies

Fintech. Much more than a buzzword, it is now spurring countless innovations that are disrupting financial services from banking to insurance. Last year alone, over $19b was invested in Fintech startups globally, cumulating in over $40b invested in the last five years. Fintech’s growth seems unstoppable, and for good reason: ultimately, it is enabling us to manage our financial lives in an easier, more personalised, less expensive and more secure way.

Now Fintech has hit the travel industry. Travel agencies can unlock these benefits and more as Amadeus partners with two pioneers in Fintech innovation to bring its recently announced B2B Wallet Prepaid product to market.

To this end Amadeus is partnering with MasterCard to offer travel agencies payment acceptance and security around the globe, as well as better protection against supplier default when using B2B Wallet. Amadeus’ solution will build on MasterCard’s vast global network to expand virtual B2B payments in travel.

Amadeus is also partnering with Ixaris to drive efficient virtual card management on B2B Wallet. With its innovative payments technology, Ixaris allows travel agents to easily create and add funds to their virtual payment cards. Ixaris, having won the Cards International’s Prepaid Innovation Award two years in a row, has been a pioneer in payments ever since it launched the first virtual prepaid card in Europe in 2003. 

“Virtual card technology is the ideal application of Fintech innovation for the travel industry” remarked Celia Pereiro, Head of Travel Payments. “By combining the strengths of Amadeus, MasterCard and Ixaris, we bring flexibility, efficiency and confidence to travel agent B2B payments. Since we launched the product in some markets in February we have seen overwhelming demand for it and today have customers in 10 European countries.”

The Amadeus B2B Wallet Solution will be gradually rolled out in select Asia Pacific markets in 2017 to bring travel agencies a virtual payments product with the option of either earning or saving cash when paying travel providers. Comments Hany Fam, MasterCard Enterprise Partnerships, “MasterCard has a history of successful, long-term partnerships across the entire travel eco-system. With our global acceptance, advanced security and automatic consolidation, Amadeus B2B Wallet gives travel agencies a host of reasons to leave cash, checks and other payment mechanisms behind, saving time and money.  We look forward to further evolving our partnership with Amadeus – to shape the future of travel by enabling safe, simple and smart end-to-end experiences for businesses and consumers alike.”

Alex Mifsud, CEO of Ixaris Group, commented, “We are proud to be working with Amadeus to help develop its B2B wallet proposition and now to extend it to countries around the world with our prepaid virtual payments technology at its core. This development is a strong endorsement of our strategy to develop B2B payments that suit specific industries, and – as is the case with Amadeus - supplying the payment capability to innovative and disruptive companies. Travel, and in particular, online travel, is an industry with huge potential to benefit from the changes in the way we pay, receive and send money.”

About Amadeus

Amadeus is a leading provider of advanced technology solutions for the global travel industry. Customer groups include travel providers (e.g. airlines, hotels, rail and ferry operators, etc.), travel sellers (travel agencies and websites), and travel buyers (corporations and travel management companies).

The Amadeus group employs around 13,000 people worldwide, across central sites in Madrid (corporate headquarters), Nice (development) and Erding (operations), as well as 71 local Amadeus Commercial Organisations globally.

The group operates a transaction-based business model. 

Amadeus is listed on the Spanish Stock Exchange under the symbol "AMS.MC" and is a component of the IBEX 35 index.

To find out more about Amadeus please visit www.amadeus.com, and www.amadeus.com/blog for more on the travel industry