The travel company Amadeus launches into payment

Spanish travel company Amadeus plans to launch a new payments business in 2023, with a prepaid virtual card as its first offering.

The Madrid-based company plans to create a wholly-owned subsidiary called Outpayce.
It has also applied to the Bank of Spain for an e-money licence, so that Outpayce can provide regulated services in the European Economic Area.
The new entity will focus on building a seamless and connected travel payment experience throughout the traveller journey and accelerating the pace of innovation in travel.
The new division will build on the work of Amadeus' existing payments business with the launch of an open API-based platform that helps third-party payment companies and fintechs connect quickly and easily to travel agencies.

A forward-looking, customer-focused vision: The travel industry is experiencing an explosion of innovation with new services such as multi-currency pricing, buy now, pay later, and integrated finance helping travel companies deliver the payment experience travellers expect.
An open payment platform: Payments are present at every stage of a trip, from booking, online or with a travel agent, to paying for extra luggage at the airport or on departure from the hotel. It is increasingly important to ensure that payments are smooth, integrated and even invisible to the traveller. In B2B payments between travel buyers and sellers, integration into the travel ecosystem is a key differentiator. Airlines, hotels and travel agencies using the platform will be able to access a wide range of Amadeus and third-party payment services via a single connection. The current platform provides services from trusted partners such as Citi, Mastercard and Paypal, among many others, and plans to expand this partner network.
Payment at the heart of this experience: The first regulated service Outpayce intends to offer if licensed is the issuance of prepaid virtual cards within its B2B Wallet solution, which travel agencies use to pay travel service providers such as airlines and hotels.

In the US, Hopper recently secured an additional $96 million investment from Capital One to expand its partnership.
Citi Bank is planning to launch a new service called Citi Travel. It will take the form of a portal dedicated to travel arrangements and has been developed in partnership with Booking.com.
Finally, the neobank/Super-app Revolut announced last year the launch of a new service called Stays, which aggregates a range of travel-related services and is presented as a sort of Swiss Army knife for Revolut travellers.

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