CellPoint Mobile, a leading global provider of sales and payment-side technology solutions for the airline and travel sectors, has partnered with UATP, the payment network owned and operated by the world’s airlines, to offer UATP’s member airlines additional access to mobile and card-based payment options.

Driven by customer demand for increased mobile payment flexibility, the partnership will provide UATP’s member airlines with immediate access to ApplePay, one of the world’s most popular payment methods, adding to UATP’s offerings for alternative payment methods (APMs) favored by travelers in different geographies. Airlines will also benefit through a reduction in both development costs and implementation times, and increased direct-channel revenues from the best-in-class mobile payment methods their passengers expect and enjoy using.

“Through this partnership, UATP airline members can offer expanded frictionless, choice-rich mobile payment experiences to their customers,” said Kristian Gjerding, CEO of CellPoint Mobile. “Which is important as more than 22% of all global air travel bookings are made on a mobile device, including up to 80% of last-minute bookings.  With global digital travel sales projected exceed $855B by 2021, it’s critical for airlines to be able to capture this growing segment.”

Airlines that connect to UATP’s Ceptor – a universal link to support alternative forms of payment with their native formats using the carrier’s traditional transaction processing requirements – will now have access to CellPoint Mobile’s Velocity payment platform and its variety of mobile APMs.  Velocity is a PCI-DSS compliant comprehensive payment platform that includes immediate access to multiple PSPs, acquirers and global consumer wallets, as well as additional services including dynamic routing, acceptance rate optimization, and pay-by-link capabilities.

Because CellPoint Mobile’s transaction acceptance capabilities will be fully integrated with the UATP platform, member airlines will not have to undergo lengthy, resource-intensive integration and development processes with the GDS and reservation systems they currently partner with in order to accept APMs.

“Partnering with CellPoint Mobile allows us to evolve to meet the payment technology needs of our member airlines and increase our relevancy in a mobile-first marketplace,” says Ralph Kaiser, President and CEO of UATP.  “Our member airlines recognize the competitive advantage of being able to offer the right payment method to the right passenger in the right market – and CellPoint Mobile makes that possible.”