Nium, a B2B solutions provider for the travel
industry, has launched a closed-loop payments solution powered by
Universal Air Travel Plan (UATP).
Nium Airline Payments (NAP) has been designed to
provide airlines, travel agents and online travel agencies (OTAs)
with a payment model which closes the door on expensive surcharges
and business restricting non-acceptance policies that can
inflate the cost of B2B travel payments.
Air Europa, one of the first airlines to contract
with Nium, will use the technology to reduce per payment cost
savings, enjoy faster settlement times, and be able to more
flexible incentives for sellers – all without requiring any
additional technical integration.
“We were very inspired by Nium’s innovative
approach to create an alternative payment method, being proud to
offer it to our B2B partners,” said Yago Casasnovas, Head of
Payment, Fraud Prevention and Distribution at Air Europa. “We
are communicating the availability of this new option to our
travel agencies, tour operator and TMC customers and we hope that
they will soon join us in taking advantage of the benefits of
using it.”
Today, traditional card payments offer travel
agents and OTAs financial incentives that strike at the core of an
airline’s razor-thin margins. The closed-loop Nium Airline Payments solution
aims to
eliminate margin-eating intermediaries from the payment flow,
giving airlines the flexibility and control to design transparent
incentives for OTA partners, based on routes, seasonality,
business volumes, and more.
Unlike other payment programs, Nium’s process
guarantees payment acceptance for the airlines, as they are
already wired to accept payments through the UATP network. The process is
also IATA Resolution 890 compliant and
registered with the IATA TIP (Transparency in Payments) program.
“Without payments, there can be no sale and we are
very honoured to help Air Europa resolve what has been one of the
biggest airline distribution conundrums of the internet era: do I
increase my distribution at the price of accepting high payment
fees, or limit distribution to partners who offer better payment
terms but reduce overall sales opportunities?” stated Spencer
Hanlon, Head of Travel at Nium.
Nium is able to offer the technology used in NAP via its
acquisition of Ixaris, a travel payments optimization company, in
2021.
Nium has an expanding range of B2B payment
solutions for not just airlines but hotels,
travel agents and more – offering virtual credit cards (VCCs),
real-time ‘pay-in, pay-out’ in over 100 currencies to over 190
countries. It also recently launched crypto solutions.
