从管道到店面：航空公司的“付款”方式如何变化

Foreword We advise travel merchants such as airlines,hotels, OTAs, and also support paymentproviders, processors, and fintech companiesserving the travel industry. This uniquepositioning across both sides of the travelpayments market enables us to deliverunbiased insights and identify opportunitiesthat single-sided perspectives miss. Edgar, Dunn & Company (EDC), foundedin 1978, is a global payments strategyconsultancy with clients across 35-45markets globally on yearly basis. EDC’s Travel Payments Practice was set upin 2002 to address the complex paymentchallenges within the travel ecosystem. Our work spans the entire travel paymentsecosystem, giving us an independent andcomprehensive view of market dynamics. The insights and recommendationspresented in this report are groundedin years of project work and real-worldimplementations across the travel sector. Our travel payments team is available tosupport your organisation seeking strategicguidance in this evolving landscape. Greg ToussaintDirectorTravel Practice Co-Lead Pascal BurgDirectorTravel Practice Co-Lead Since the establishment of EDC’s Travel Paymentsconsulting practice, more than 20 years ago, we haveseen how the perception of “payments” among airlineshave evolved from a standalone, finance topic to across-department, strategic topic. Therefore, we firmlybelieve that the topic of “payments” deserves theattention of airlines’ C-level executives, due to threemain reasons: The travel sector is experiencing significant changesboth in terms of distribution and payments. Airlinesneed to be aware of these changes and understand thedifferent levels of consequences. These changes have in-depth impacts regarding theinternal organisation and processes of airlines as well assales channels, tech stack and payment providers theywork with. •First, payments impact both sides of an airline’sProfit & Loss statement: not only the cost sidebut also the revenue side. In other words, theyare a profitability driver that should be managedproactively, just like other key profitability drivers. EDC’s significant experience working closely withairlines across the globe, EDC has identified 7 key painpoints airlines face on a regular basis. This is based onactual projects when EDC assisted airlines and it reflectsconcrete examples of EDC’s strong added-value in thetravel and airline industry. •Second, payments are changing fast (e.g.,customer needs, new payment technologies, newpayment regulations, new payment providersand business models) and therefore, requirecontinuous monitoring and fine-tuning over time. As mentioned during IATA’s General Assembly, paymentneeds to become a top priority for airlines and a holisticapproach regarding payment will positively contributeto airlines’ business. We hope you will find our analysisrelevant and we would welcome the opportunity todiscuss directly with you – do not hesitate to contact us! •Third, the good news is that payments canbe managed. There are plenty of leversand initiatives that airlines can leveragein order to optimise payments. EDC has actively contributed to raising awareness of theimportance of “payments” across the airline industry.We hope this white paper will support and enhancethis undertaking and be helpful to both airlines andproviders of payment services that serve them. Report contributors Greg ToussaintDirectorTravel Practice Co-Leadgregoire.toussaint@edgardunn.com Pascal BurgDirectorTravel Practice Co-Leadpascal.burg@edgardunn.com Louis WaplerManagerlouis.wapler@edgardunn.com Shanta ParatianSenior Managershanta.paratian@edgardunn.com Julia CallejoManagerjulia.callejo@edgardunn.com Charlotte Piron-SethSenior Consultantcharlotte.piron@edgardunn.com Rohan ShajuConsultantrohan.shaju@edgardunn.com Contents ForewordReport ContributorsExecutive Summary1 Enhancing Airlines’ Payment Acceptance Performance2 Optimisation of acquiring contracts: rebalancing power in a post-pandemic landscape3 Untapped issuing opportunities: how airlines can capture value through4 key best practices4 Governance matters: structuring payment ownership inside airlines5 Navigating payment infrastructure complexity: from silos to orchestration6 Five steps airlines can take to move from blind spots to data-driven decisions7 Airline payments innovation: preparing for what’s nextAbout Edgar, Dunn & Company0103050913192733414754 Executive summary In the past, payments operated like plumbing, hidden inthe background and only noticed when they failed. Formany merchants including airlines, they were viewedpurely as a cost. Today, payments are becoming anintegral part of the storefront, attracting customers,influencing their experience, and driving sales. In otherwords, payments are not just an expense, but also akey revenue driver to create new customer journeys. On the revenue side, payments have been even moreoverlooked. Some airlines do not even maximise theirmarket reach via the acceptance of local paymentmethods or inst