Amadeus, which provides IT services for the travel and tourism industry, isn’t a stranger to the FinTech of travel and expense management. The company inked a deal with T&E firm Chrome River last September in a bid to improve its own automated expense management capabilities.
Amadeus also offers its own clients a virtual card service, allowing travel agencies to manage their finances. But, on Monday (Feb. 15), the company took its virtual finance services to the next level.
The company rolled out its Amadeus B2B Wallet Prepaid, a service of two virtual cards linked into the same online account. The solution is also for travel agencies, with one card allowing them to earn a rebate on their spending and the other avoiding payment fees that are imposed by some travel suppliers.
According to reports, both of the cards link into selling interfaces, allowing for payment at the time of booking.
“The travel industry has broken its reluctance to pay with virtual cards,” said Amadeus Head of Travel Payments Celia Pereiro in a statement. “However, challenges still remain to be overcome to fulfill its potential for growth.”
Pereiro added that, with travel suppliers, like hotels and air carriers, increasing their acceptance of virtual cards, travel agents are now looking for more sophisticated ways to use v-cards for cash management.
“B2B Wallet offers the choice and flexibility that travel agencies have been striving for in a payment solution; the positive response we have received from the market confirms this,” the executive said.
According to Amadeus, the virtual wallet solution will first be offered to travel agencies across Europe, and the firm is in talks to bring the tool to “hundreds” of other businesses, though the firm did not specify the location of these potential new markets.
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