Amadeus, a travel technology solutions provider, in partnership with Ingenico, a France-based payment solutions provider has launched Amadeus Airport Pay, a wireless payment solution to ease airport payments.
According to the company, in today’s hyper-connected world, airports can take a toll on the traveler. After queuing to check a bag in, they have to walk to an airline ticket office to pay for excess luggage or a flight upgrade. This is because shared check-in desks cannot accommodate the specific payment needs of multiple airlines and ground handlers. Faced with this situation, the traveler might think twice before bothering to pay for extra legroom at all.
So how does Amadeus Airport Pay help?
Using this new solution, airlines and ground handlers can reach any passenger with an EMV chip card or an EMV-compliant mobile wallet in any airport worldwide, regardless of the check-in infrastructure; this means airlines worldwide can deploy quickly. As a result, Amadeus explains that airlines can convert more ancillary sales by offering travelers a fast and secure payment method that overcomes the inconveniences generally faced by them. Because Amadeus Airport Pay is not bound to any physical infrastructure, airlines and ground handlers can take payments anywhere in the airport.
Lufthansa Group, as the launch partner, will start rolling out the solution at check-in desks and ticket offices in over 170 airports around the globe by this month.
“Payments in the airport have taken a big step forward towards convenience, security and flexibility with Amadeus Airport Pay. We are proud to be working with Lufthansa to improve their passengers’ airport experience worldwide,” said Celia Pereiro, Head of Travel Payments, Amadeus.
“Travellers will have the peace of mind that their payments are secured thanks to EMV technology. Airlines and ground handlers meanwhile can open the door to a much smoother trip – imagine roaming agents approaching you while queuing to offer the ancillary service you need – it’s a win-win for the airline and the traveler,” Pereiro added.
According to Philipp Vetten, Team Management Payment Projects, Lufthansa Group, as an IT solution, Amadeus Airport Pay would give Lufthansa Group full control over its payment infrastructure by enabling connections with a wide range of payment providers.
Amadeus also enables airlines and ground handlers to connect to the banks of their choice. Amadeus Airport Pay can be fully integrated in the airline’s sales flow, leading to faster payments, that are more accurate and automatically accounted for.
“We are proud to join forces with Amadeus to provide an integrated solution that benefits from a truly international reach, is compliant with security standards and available with our full catalogue of payment terminals. Pocket-sized and supporting all wireless connectivity options, Amadeus Airport Pay will bring real mobility to airport payments and improve the passenger experience,” said Miguel Ángel Hernández, Managing Director Ingenico Iberia.
With over 5 billion chip cards in circulation globally, Amadeus believes that EMV has cemented its place as the leading card-present payment technology. This represents a significant improvement in the way payment card fraud is detected and prevented, as EMV cards will have enhanced anti-fraud capabilities at the physical point of sale. At airports, EMV terminals are ubiquitous in duty-free shops but still a rarity in airline check-in desks.