AirPlus International, a global provider of payment and billing solutions for business travel, and Amadeus today announced their joint initiative to offer travel agencies the Amadeus AirPlus Travel Agency Card. 
This is a new virtual payment solution for Amadeus travel agencies developed by the two companies. The virtual credit card solution simplifies payment to travel suppliers, such as rail, hotel and non-BSP carriers, and improves cash flow. Conceived as a global solution, it will be gradually deployed across different countries and regions, starting with Italy and the UK, with Switzerland and Germany to follow.
The Amadeus AirPlus Travel Agency Card, which provides guaranteed global payment acceptance via two networks, UATP and MasterCard worldwide, enables travel agency staff to generate a virtual credit card number during a booking process and use the number to complete the payment. The virtual credit card number is generated using AirPlus’ A.I.D.A. payment function (AirPlus Integrated Data and Acceptance), which has been integrated into Amadeus Selling Platform. Users also benefit from a highly secure payment platform fully compliant with PCI DSS standards.
This tool will enable travel agents to easily track and reconcile payments, which in turn saves time on a daily basis and reduces errors.
Patrick Diemer, Managing Director, Airplus, said: “We are very happy to embark on this project with Amadeus. The combination of their travel sector expertise and our strong position as a leading payment services provider, make our joint proposition particularly well suited to face the challenges and needs of travel agency payments.”
Francisco Pérez-Lozao, Senior Vice President, New Businesses, Amadeus said, “The Amadeus AirPlus Travel Agency Card is the natural next step in our payments services business expansion, and it nicely complements our capability to provide end-to-end payment solutions to the travel industry. We are already providing such services to a number of companies worldwide, and this solution will allow us to enhance our value add portfolio. AirPlus’s strong background in the payments sector, and their global footprint, make them the ideal partner to bring to the market the full benefits of this solution.”
