Industry Studies on Value Creation through Payment

In order to support the industry towards the vision of Airline Retailing, there is a need for Airlines to measure their own progress in terms of Payment efficiency, covering payment cost control as well as cashflow-related aspects, and the opportunity of increased revenue through better payment conversion and market reach. IATA has been working jointly with the IATA Financial Advisory Council (IFAC), its Payment Methods Working Group (PMWG) and the Distribution Advisory Council (DAC) on an industry plan that includes a reassessment of the airline payment costs, and a sizing of the value creation opportunity.

The initiative was supported by two external parties, Edgar, Dunn & Co. and McKinsey & Co., who have conducted and released their respective studies as follows:

• Edgar, Dunn & Co. has conducted an industry cost of payment study based on Airline sales / revenue volume and bilateral interviews with Airlines covering all regions. The study is based on 2019 sales data, as being the last year not affected by the Covid crisis. Their Airline Payment Cost and Revenue Drivers Study can be downloaded here.

• Building on this Cost of Payment study, McKinsey & Co. has conducted a study on the role of payment today (airline vs other Industries) and payment as a value creation lever in airlines' journey to retailing. Their report on "How payment innovation can help airlines improve customer experience and the bottom line" can be downloaded here.

The industry will hear directly from EDC and McKinsey during the upcoming WFS where they will address moving the view on payment from a simplistic cost outlook to the enabler for value creation.