IATA & Outpayce partner to enable global account payments

IATA and Outpayce have announced a partnership to enable airlines to accept account-to-account payments globally. These transfers, which go directly between merchant and customer, reduce processing costs compared to traditional card payments.

Outpayce, a travel payments business, processes USD $160 billion annually in travel payments. The partnership with IATA introduces IATA Pay, allowing travellers to directly debit their bank accounts for air ticket purchases online. The new system leverages account-to-account rails and regulations from countries such as India (UPI), the Netherlands (Ideal), Brazil (PIX), and the Philippines (QR Ph). Currently available in over 30 countries, IATA Pay promises improved speed and security of payments while lowering payment acceptance costs.

At the checkout stage on an airline's website, travellers using the new payment service can select their bank or scan a QR code based on their country. IATA then processes the payment request and transfers the funds from the customer's account, with settlement to the airline completed the next day.

Juan Antonio Rodriguez, Director of Financial Settlement Operations at IATA, noted the emerging trend towards account-to-account payments. He commented, "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."

Philippine Airlines has become the first carrier to implement IATA Pay through Outpayce's Xchange Payments Platform (XPP). Anna Isabel Bengzon, Philippine Airlines' Chief Financial Officer, highlighted the benefits of the new payment method: "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 travelers 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," she said.

Jean-Christophe Lacour, SVP and Head of Product Management & Delivery at Outpayce, expressed the company's commitment to expanding payment options for travel companies. He stated, "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. By making it easier for partners to connect to XPP using self-service APIs, we intend to broaden this choice even further."

The introduction of self-service APIs is currently being piloted and is among the first such integrations. This initiative aims to simplify connections to XPP, thereby increasing choices for travel companies and optimising payment orchestration.