The travel industry, perpetually in motion, has become a fertile ground for payments innovation.
As the sector races to meet changing consumer expectations, payment orchestration is emerging as a linchpin in its transformation. At its core, payment orchestration serves as a centralized platform that simplifies, optimizes and secures payment processes, ensuring seamless transactions across multiple channels. Its influence, however, stretches beyond operational efficiency, redefining how travel brands engage with their customers.
“The traveler journey is complex,” CellPoint Digital CEO Kristian Gjerding said during a discussion for the series “PYMNTS Outlook 2025: Navigating the Future of Banking and Payments.”
Noting that travel is rebounding post-pandemic, but today’s traveler demands experiences that are fast, flexible and frictionless, Gjerding cited the number of variables airlines manage — currencies, refund rules, payment regulations and millions of digital interactions.
“Whenever they break, this is where you get a bad customer experience,” he said.
With consumer expectations rising, the stakes for airlines have never been higher. Poor payment experiences can push customers to intermediaries, costing airlines more in transaction fees.
“If I have a bad checkout experience, I may buy your product through an intermediary, which is a very, very costly process,” Gjerding said. “Your cost is going to be more than tenfold for the same transaction.”
To avoid these losses, Gjerding said airlines must prioritize seamless payment processes.
“Travelers want to pay with whatever method they think is most valuable to them,” he said. “If we don’t serve them, they’ll find other routes to get the same product, even from you as a travel merchant.”
Gjerding described the evolution of payment orchestration as a critical phase in the travel industry’s digitization.
“Generally speaking, in tech, you’ve got different phases,” he said. “You’ve got an innovative phase where something new solves a business problem. At some point, it becomes a tier-one challenge, and that’s when you start moving into the platform play.”
Unlike standalone services, orchestration platforms provide merchants with greater control and flexibility. Gjerding said payment orchestration delivers value across three areas: customer experience, operational efficiency and financial value.
“The market is driving in that direction,” he said.
Streamlined processes ensure fewer abandoned carts and smoother checkouts, directly boosting conversion rates, while by consolidating payment systems across providers, orchestration simplifies the management of complex and fragmented environments.
One of the biggest shifts Gjerding highlighted was the travel industry’s move toward an offer-order model.
“The travel industry is undergoing a once-in-a-lifetime transformation,” he said.
This approach, inspired by eCommerce giants like Amazon, allows customers to build a centralized basket combining flights, accommodations and other services, all paid for in a single transaction.
“It’ll give the travel merchant a near-Amazon-like checkout experience,” Gjerding said, adding that this change would allow travelers to “pick a flight, a hotel, ground transportation and experiences, all into one basket, and then check out.”
However, the shift brings challenges.
“It’ll multiply the complexity for travel merchants, particularly around delivering this vision into reality,” Gjerding said, adding purpose-built payment orchestration platforms will be essential to managing this complexity.
“You’re going to have a hard time making it without payment orchestration in the offer-order industry,” he said
Payment orchestration doesn’t just solve problems; it opens doors. Streamlining complex workflows frees travel brands to innovate and scale. For example, airlines can experiment with subscription-based models, offering travelers unlimited flights within a region for a flat monthly fee. Hotels can enhance loyalty programs with real-time redemption capabilities, allowing guests to use points to pay for upgrades or dining during their stay.
Alternative payment methods (APMs) are also gaining traction globally, and Gjerding predicted their importance will grow further. While cards remain dominant, bank-to-bank payments and, eventually, cryptocurrencies could play a larger role in the payment landscape by 2030. Payment orchestration platforms must be adaptable to accommodate these evolving preferences, ensuring compliance with diverse regulatory frameworks and reconciling the nuances of global transactions.
Payment innovation is not just about technology but about aligning with evolving consumer expectations and operational realities.
“If you don’t have proper payments, you’re not going to make revenues,” Gjerding said.
With the travel industry embracing transformative models like offer-order and expanding into new markets, companies like CellPoint Digital are poised to play a role in shaping the future of payments.
“Payment orchestration is becoming a real, tangible thing,” Gjerding said, “and it’s finding its own feet in the market.”