Airline passengers can fly without one. That would be Emirates flyers who do not have or choose not to use a credit card, to book their flight reservations. Emirates, the Dubai-based airline, is launching Emirates Pay that enables consumers in Germany and the U.K. to pay via direct debit to their bank checking account.
Most air passengers, especially business travelers, use credit cards to get mileage points and other loyalty rewards. How many flyers will actually go the cardless route remains to be seen. In any case, Emirates will save on the payment card interchange fee on these transactions.
The following excerpt from a TTR Weekly article reports more on the topic:
Emirates has announced, Monday, the launch of Emirates Pay, a new account-based payment method for purchasing air tickets. Emirates Pay is now available for Emirates customers in Germany and the UK who purchase tickets via emirates.com.
Emirates is the world’s first airline to launch this payment alternative powered by a white-label solution jointly developed by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) in partnership with Deutsche Bank.
Emirates chief financial officer Michael Doersam said: “We’re pleased to be the first airline to roll out this new account-based solution for our customers. We aim to provide our customers with choice, convenience, and the best possible experiences at every touchpoint.
Customers who don’t have a credit card, and those already using direct payments for other purchases, will welcome the simplicity and security of this method when making travel purchases. When it comes to payments solutions, we’ve always kept close to the latest innovations so that we can offer our customers in different markets the most secure and convenient options.”
Overview by Raymond Pucci, Director, Merchant Services at Mercator Advisory Group
