WASHINGTON and LONG BEACH, N.Y., Oct. 4, 2016 — UATP is pleased to announce that the cutting-edge payment processing platform, Planet Payment, has joined the Network to give airline Merchants access to a wider portfolio of alternative forms of payment. Working with Planet Payment will help Merchants capture more sales by offering the optimal payment set-up for every market.

“Planet Payment’s international payment platform will allow airline Merchants to gain greater access to critical markets, such as China, where outbound travel spend is expected to reach $255.4 billion by 2025,” said Paul Levine, SVP, Planet Payment. “Solving a significant barrier to accepting the most widely issued card in the world, we will be able to provide a way to elegantly accept UnionPay Debit cards by the end of 2016.”

Planet Payment is a leading provider of international payment, transaction and multi-currency processing services. The US-based company will focus on bringing international AFPs to airline Merchants. The partnership will give the Network access to more than 300 local and alternative payments around the world, such as UnionPay. Historically, accepting UnionPay Debit Cards required a re-direct of the consumer which caused friction and cart-abandonment in the payment process.  Planet Payment’s solution will allow for the acceptance of both credit cards and debit cards leveraging a unique one-time passcode created for each transaction sent via SMS to the cardholder. The solution also supports billing the cardholder in their local currency, i.e. Renminbi or Hong Kong Dollars, and the merchant is protected from any fraud chargebacks as a result of SMS authentication.

“Adding Planet Payment to the Network is a big win for our airlines,” said Ralph Kaiser, President and CEO, UATP. “The partnership will greatly boost the number of AFPs that they have access to with no additional work on their end. The airlines will be able to quickly connect to AFPs without having to worry about connectivity or system changes.”

For more information, visit UATP.com or http://www.planetpayment.com/