Fintech firm inks payment partnership in travel sector

● Tie-up with travel technology and services giant ● Benefits include offering 24/7, realtime payments

A business payments disruptor that recently opened a base in Edinburgh has agreed a partnership with a travel technology and services giant to provide a new flexible payment service for online travel agencies (OTAS) and tour operators.

Modulr offers digital accounts that provide an alternative to traditional bank accounts for business payments, making them “faster, easier and more reliable”.

It has joined forces with Paxport, which connects providers and sales channels through its automated merchandising and distribution system for the travel industry.

The latter said the tie-up means it will be able to offer 24/7, real-time payments to its customers and provide tour operators and travel agents with a wider choice of payment options.

Modulr’s digital payment accounts will enhance Paxport’s new payment service, Pax2pay, by letting customers pay out using multiple paymentmethodsandcurrencies, including virtual cards, faster payments, single euro payments area, and with more to follow.

Pax2pay will also help cut administrative costs for the OTAS and tour operators by centralising reconciliation – reducing the complexity of manually moving cash between multiple payment service providers. It will enable Paxport to offer an improved service to the 80-plus airlines and 250-plus resellers that use its system every day.

Modulr chief executive Myles Stephenson pointed out that the world travel industry generates $1.4 trillion (£1.1tn) in revenue annually, but the movement of money between travel companies is not a smooth process.

“Airlines, hotels and OTAS are having to juggle multiple payment service providers – making reconciliation time-consuming and cumbersome.”

He said Modulr will help Paxport improve its customer experience by offering a choice of real-time payment methods, all in one place, available 24/7, 365 days a year.

Paxport chief executive Tony Barker said payments should not be complex – and are the “lifeblood” of any business. “Each year we process over £300 million of travel commerce transactions and it’s important we remain at the forefront of faster, easier and more reliable payments by partnering with a Financial Conduct Authority-regulated payments provider that is innovating on the back of recent regulatory changes.”

Modulr in September said it had opened a base in the Scottish capital as it looked to tap into the city’s burgeoning fintech scene. The Londonbased fintech firm, which had recently completed its latest major funding round, said it would be creating 30 jobs on the back of the office opening.