PAYMENTS
Today, we have Chip & PIN, 3DS, network tokens and PCI standards, all of which massively increase the complexity of processing payments for all entities involved in the transaction flow.
Then there are payment use cases and transaction types. Take subscriptions as an example, where you share your payment details with a merchant at the start of the relationship and then authorise that merchant to use those payment credentials to perform subsequent transactions over the lifetime of the relationship.
Agentic commerce is taking this concept to the next level, where you potentially trust an AI agent to act and shop totally autonomously on your behalf.
Those business models require transaction messages to constantly evolve, as well as the adaptations of rules and regulations governing participants in the ecosystem.
The third area to mention is the proliferation of payment methods. Payments in the travel world were once dominated by a handful of international card schemes. Today, alternative payment methods are no longer alternatives. Digital wallets, QR payment solutions and A2A payment options – and more increasingly, CBDCs and stablecoins – form a major share of the payment mix.
For the airline and travel distribution infrastructure, it is a major challenge to keep up with all of these trends. Industry standards – such as the International Air Transport Association( IATA) and Airlines Reporting Corporation
82 April 2026