Cards still dominate, but corporate travel is discovering innovative ways to pay

“New forms of payment remove consumer friction,” says Uplift CEO and cofounder Brian Barth, whose company enables installment payments for travel services. “Payments are becoming less about the mechanics of moving money and more about creating a great consumer experience.”

Amadeus head of merchant services Jean-Christophe Lacour agrees. “Consumers are driving significant change,” he notes, adding Amadeus is about to publish The Travel Payments Guide, providing merchants with data on the most popular methods in 40 of the largest global markets.

“Although cards remain dominant across most major markets, we are seeing a rapid rise in e-wallets and bank transfers across the world,” Lacour explains. “The analysis shows that, on a global basis, alternative payment methods have now surpassed cards and cash combined, accounting for more than half of all travel commerce. This trend is most evident in China where e-wallets are now the most popular payment method, accounting for 49 percent of the country’s $155 billion in digital travel spend.”

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