Sabre Empowers Travel Agents with Virtual Payment Technology for Air Bookings

As part of efforts to increase acceptance of virtual payments by buyers and suppliers, Sabre and its partner in the payment space Conferma, have integrated the Sabre Virtual Payment solution for air tickets into the Sabre Red Workspace used by more than 425,000 agents around the world.

The enhanced digital payment capability is offered as a new standard form of payment, giving agents the ability to generate virtual cards as part of existing ticketing and payment processes. The new payment method will be listed alongside credit cards, cash or check options, providing flexibility within a seamless payment process for the agency, corporation and the traveller.

The standard payment integration eliminates the need for mid/back office providers and online corporate booking tools such as GetThere to modify their business processes and incur additional technical expenses.

Sabre Virtual Payments gives agents the option to set credit limits, apply date restrictions and define merchant categories – a set of controls that help agents to pay more efficiently while reducing the risk of fraud. Sabre’s Virtual Payment can be used at time of ticketing, refunding and exchanging, and it can be stored in customers’ preferences through the Sabre Profiles capability.

“For each air ticket, the traditional forms of payment challenge travel agents with high risk of fraud, exposing corporate accounts and requiring extra time for reconciliation. A more secure and efficient way to pay is now available for Sabre-connected agencies, and it is part of the core reservation flow in the Sabre Red Workspace and Sabre APIs,” said Neil Fyfe, vice president of Virtual Payments at Sabre. “In addition when using virtual payments within the GetThere booking tool, we provide incremental detailed reconciliation data available for expense management.”

Sabre says it has seen strong pick up in travel agencies and corporations using virtual cards, with year-on-year growth of 130%. By incorporating its virtual payment solution for air into its agency workflow, the company expects continued growth in 2017.

Videos from/about Sabre include: Sabre Airline Solutions - Exclusive HD Video Interview with Dasha Kuksenko, Philippine Airlines First to Use Sabre's AirVision Commercial Analytics. Exclusive HD videos (9) from Sabre's Travel Technology Exchange (TTX) APAC 2016 including interviews with: Wade Jones, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Strategy at Sabre Travel Network, Roshan Mendis, Senior Vice President - Sabre Asia Pacific, Anupam Bokil, Vice President of Product and Technology - Sabre Travel Network Asia Pacific, John Samuel, Senior Vice President of Design at Sabre, Alex Tang, CEO of XCOR Space Expeditions Asia and MD of JW Marriott Hotel Beijing and The Ritz-Carlton, Beijing as well as Three Presentations from Sabre's Travel Technology Exchange (TTX) 2016 in Beijing and Brief Introduction to Sabre Airline Solutions by Greg Gilchrist. Plus we have many more: HD Videos.

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