Sabre recently acquired virtual card leader Conferma. HRS, for its part, has set its sights on the Paypense platform. Amadeus has also taken up the subject with the creation of Outpayce. Is having its own payment offering becoming strategic for a travel company like Amadeus?
Jean-Christophe Lacour - Indeed, we are not the only players interested in this essential component, and I won't comment on what our competitors are doing. I would simply point out that Amadeus has been working on this subject for 30 years and that we formalised a payment entity 10 years ago. Today, with our application for an eMoney licence and the creation of OutpayceWe are strengthening what we were already doing in a separate company, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Amadeus. We are entering a new phase of growth with the aim of creating the most seamless and connected experience possible for travellers and agencies, with payment present at many stages of the journey.
What will Outpayce offer?
Jean-Christophe Lacour - It's an open technology platform that will already make it possible tooffer more thingsand then add to them at a later date. At present, our payment offering consists of a portfolio of virtual cards offered by a range of payment players, such as American Express or AirPlus. This is a B2B wallet that travel agencies and OTAs can use to buy plane tickets and hotels. If we obtain the licence we have applied for from the Spanish central bank, which covers the whole of the European Economic Area, we can then add our own virtual card to the walletoffering our customers additional choice. For the moment, our priority is to offer this prepaid virtual card, although other solutions may be considered in the future.
Does it compete with other payment solutions?
Jean-Christophe Lacour - No, because this is an open platform, which means even greater connectivity with other partners. In the future, via an API system, they will be able to technically easier to integrate their offer into it to pass on to their customers. In some cases, travel agents will be able to pay using our solution, and in other cases using those of our partners. No one can do it alone, hence the idea of opening up.
So what does Amadeus have to offer with its own solution?
Jean-Christophe Lacour - Amadeus aims to bring additional added value to the travel ecosystem, both leisure and business. We focus on a connected payment experience at every stagewith a directly integrated financial aspect. For example, in the Anglo-Saxon market, agencies often pay a service provider and then repay the purchase in monthly instalments, and this is one of the solutions we can offer agencies. At the same time, travel service providers will be able to connect more easily to our platform. This will make it simpler for agencies to pay for a plane ticket or earn commission from a hotel. We want to tackle streamline all these B2B payment flows by automating what often requires a great deal of manual processing on the part of both agencies and service providers.
Amadeus also offers technological solutions to airlines and hotels, so how could the payment component be integrated into the traveller's experience?
Jean-Christophe Lacour - This allows us tooffer paperless payment directly in our solutionsThis makes things much easier, rather than having to integrate those of external players. It also means we can come up with innovations more quickly, as we have more control over the whole process. On arrival at the airport, putting an extra bag in the hold, requesting an upgrade, paying for a meal: all these require a payment activity. The same goes for buying WiFi or a drink during the flight. And these examples could also be applied to hotels. From there, we look at how to make the travel experience more seamless.
Can you give us some concrete examples of the progress that could be made?
Jean-Christophe Lacour - For example, we are currently partnering British Airways at Heathrow on a pilot scheme based on biometrics. To take part, passengers must first give their consent to the airline. From there, we could very well imagine an additional step by asking for their consent to activate payment. Then, if the passenger has authenticated himself and integrated this means of payment into his loyalty profile, he could pay for your hold baggage, upgrade or gin and tonic in flight without having to take out your card. The same approach could also be applied to the hotel industry.
Will the payment module also be integrated into your Cytric solution for business travel?
Jean-Christophe Lacour - It's likely, of course. We could envisage giving company employees virtual cards stored in their Cytric profiles and integrated into their mobile phones. So, instead of paying for the hotel with their personal card and then making a request for reimbursement, the Amadeus solution could generate a virtual card at that moment to make the payment. This solution would make life easier for travellers, while guaranteeing better reconciliation for travel managers.
