WEX Travel and UATP: Broadening Acceptance, Satisfying Customers

UATP has long been a leader in easing payments for the travel industry, accepted worldwide as a form of payment for corporate business travel by a wide range of Airline, Rail and Travel Agency Merchants. A platform designed to make travel payments easier, when UATP looked to expand its services to corporate accounts, the organization turned to WEX Travel to make it happen.

Expanding UATP Capabilities to Hotels and Car Rentals

Announced in August 2015, WEX Travel partnered with UATP as a ‘Master Merchant’, providing the opportunity for UATP cardholders to extend the payment capabilities of UATP cards with a single-use Virtual Card Number (VCN) from WEX Travel.

Described as “a logical move” focused on broadening the reach of both companies, the WEX and UATP partnership will have an immense impact for travelers, managers, and issuers, allowing UATP corporate accountholders to purchase hotel and car rentals with their UATP card.

With VCNs becoming increasingly popular due to international acceptance, better visibility, and improved security due to the one-time nature of the card, this partnership is set to generate a great deal of interest from airline partners.

A Great Deal of Interest among Airlines Globally

An initial rollout scheduled for later this year with Delta Air Lines is receiving a great deal of interest in the industry from airlines across the world, as highlighted in a Business Travel News interview with UATP President and CEO Ralph Kaiser:

“Everyone is interested in it and not just in the U.S., either. It just worked out that Delta was able to work with WEX in the U.S. to launch [in the fourth quarter]. Our issuer base is 33 airlines, and the majority of active issuers who have big corporate programs are interested in this. Anytime the airline talks to a corporate and says, “Hey when you book a flight on us, you can also book your hotel and car rental and we put it all on the same statement for you,” they’re going to say, “Sure. Why not do it?” They’ll all add it. We just need to get it into the market.”

How it Works

1. A UATP cardholder uses their existing UATP number to book their hotel and/or car rental alongside their airline booking.
2. A VCN is automatically generated and sent to the hotel and/or car rental company for processing.
3. Details of the transaction show on the UATP cardholder’s regular UATP billing statement.

The solution seamlessly extends the payment capabilities of UATP by enabling the client to book their travel with their existing travel agency without any process changes. Corporate travelers will receive one consolidated travel statement for all of their air, hotel and rental car bookings from their respective UATP Issuers.

Learn More: UATP’s Airline Distribution® 2016

Join WEX, UATP, and other global travel experts at UATP’s annual Airline Distribution® 2016 in Vancouver, Canada on 22-24 March, 2016 at the Rosewood Hotel Georgia.

Airline Distribution brings together a variety of industry leaders and decision makers to address the greatest challenges to distribution in a neutral forum. The international event will focus on the many facets of airline distribution, with an Executive Roundtable of airline executives discussing the challenges and successes of today’s industry, evolving payments, using technology to enhance distribution strategies, regulation, and other industry updates.

WEX’s very own Jim Pratt will be participating in a roundtable discussion on 23 March, joining other industry experts to discuss the evolving world of payments.

Panel Discussion: Managing the Evolving World of Payments

Payments continue to evolve with the growth of non-traditional forms of payments, VANs, ancillary revenue as a strategy and the multitude of regulatory issues. Panelists will discuss how creating effective payment strategies can help drive distribution and create maximum revenue.

Details

• Date: 23 March 2016
• Time: 13:30-14:30
• Moderator: Pascal Burg, Director, Edgar Dunn & Company
• Panelists:
  • Dave Holmes, Senior Vice President, UATP
  • Jim Pratt, Senior Vice President, General Manager of Virtual Payments, WEX
  • Eran Belo, VP Business Development, Adyen
  • Ronald Wieselberg, Vice President Worldwide Sales and Key Account Management, SafetyPay
  • Al Enes, Business Development Manager, Worldpay