Amadeus introduces flexible payments with Uplift and Fly Now Pay Later integrations

Travellers are looking for more flexible ways to pay for big ticket items, says the GDS and European travel tech giant

Buy now pay later options are to be introduced by GDS Amadeus as it looks to expand payment options its travel clients offer customer.

The European tech giant said partnerships struck with Uplift and Fly Now Pay Later reflect the sort of flexibility customers are looking for when buying ‘big ticket’ travel products.

Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) options have emerged over recent years as a way to spread the cost of a purchase across several monthly payments.

Uplift and Fly Now Pay Later have been integrated into Amadeus’s Xchange Payment Platform (XPP), as part of a multi-provider BNPL ecosystem dedicated to travel.

XPP is used by hundreds of airlines and travel companies to power their payments, from fraud prevention to payment acceptance. 

Airlines, travel agencies and hotels can now add BNPL options to their sales channels via a single connection to Amadeus. 

Travellers can choose to pay for travel in a series of installments over six, nine or twelve months.

Amadeus said BNPL is particularly well suited to the travel industry due to the common requirement for upfront payments at the time of booking.

Research among 5,000 travellers found 68% would spend more on travel if BNPL options were available while 49% said they would be more likely to buy airline ancillary services.

Beatrice Bouju, head of partnerships, payments at Amadeus said: “The growth of BNPL across all sectors has been remarkable and the message from travellers is clear – they want the choice to pay for the trip in installments. 

“Such payment options will help travel’s recovery by facilitating pent-up demand for higher value holidays as travel restrictions are lifted.

“Our vision for the Amadeus Xchange Payment Platform is a one-stop-shop for travel companies to access the latest in fintech innovation, so adding BNPL services from two travel specialists to the mix was an easy choice.”

Stephen Quinn, Fly Now Pay Later chief commercial officer, said: “According to research from Cornerstone Advisors, BNPL use by Gen Z in the US grew six-fold year over year. 

“But Baby Boomer adoption increased even more rapidly, from 1% in 2020 to 18% in 2021. Integrating our services to the Amadeus Xchange Payment Platform provides ease of adoption for the travel industry and greater choice for travelers.” 

Tom Botts, chief commercial officer at Uplift, added: “Travelers increasingly prefer the option to pay for a trip in installments, over two thirds of Uplift users chose BNPL because it reduces financial stress to pay over time versus all at once. 

BNPL has become a standard payment method across travel. Now, travel providers that rely on the Amadeus Xchange Payment Platform can add Uplift’s flexible payments quickly and simply, immediately benefiting from stronger customer loyalty and increased bookings.”