The fintech sector is currently broadening its horizons, with more companies beginning to focus on the travel industry. Given that digital payments, Embedded Finance, and customised financial services play a key role in how individuals plan and pay for their travel, fintech companies seize this opportunity to modernise traditional models. With the travel season approaching and the first quarter of 2025 behind us, it’s the ideal time to take stock of the most significant developments shaping the travel and fintech landscape. From new solutions to strategic collaborations and market advancements, we are diving into the trends and the companies supporting them.
Just as the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions were lifted, travel demand picked up, maintaining its momentum and being predicted to continue to surge globally. The sector is largely moulded by the shifting preferences and behaviours of different generations, with Millennials and Gen Z positioning themselves as the key drivers of this change, travelling three times more than Boomers. Additionally, these younger generations see shopping and booking as a collaborative and social experience, relying on features like split payments with friends.
As we dive into the digital era, how individuals plan and book their travel experiences has transformed, with many of them relying on online travel agencies (OTAs), which witnessed a 300% growth from 2019 to 2025. Also, people prefer booking their travel online or in-app, with GetYorGuide underlining a 142% expansion in mobile bookings between 2023 and 2024. As to spending, regardless of inflation, travellers intend to spend either the same amount or more on travel activities in the upcoming year compared to the previous one.
When it comes to payments and considering that consumers’ expectations regarding them have significantly changed in recent years, the travel industry reacted by opting for alternative payment methods that meet the needs of customers. From cryptocurrencies as a payment option for travel bookings, to BNPL and contactless payments, industry players seek to adapt their offerings to best fit the current demand for a more optimised and customer-centric experience. To better achieve this, travel firms have started to work with fintech companies, enabling them to embed their solutions into their operations.
The modern traveller tends to look for convenience and an experience that overall meets their needs and preferences, regardless of whether they are booking a flight or reserving accommodation for their stay. Payments sit at the core of the travel experience, presenting substantial opportunities for fintech companies that seek to extend their reach. To achieve their goals and further facilitate the growth of the sector, many of them partnered with travel players to either improve the overall payment experience or mitigate current issues present in the market.
To simplify online processes and ensure improved transactions for travellers booking tours, attractions, and activities globally, Checkout.com teamed up with GetYourGuide; Worldline joined forces with FreedomPay to augment payment solutions within the travel and hospitality sector, addressing the area of concern of legacy infrastructure. Furthermore, to expand its presence among travel companies and booking platforms, BR-DGE partnered with Traveltek, with the move focusing on allowing users to access a wider range of payment options, minimised operational costs, and an augmented tech stack.
Moreover, Nium collaborated with G2 Travel to improve global hotel payments by providing its virtual card payment solution and allowing the latter to pay hotel partners worldwide. The alliance focused on including additional local currencies into G2 Travel’s offering and making supplier payments more efficient and secure.
Similar to other industries that experience substantial growth, including banking, ecommerce, healthcare, logistics, and supply chain, the travel sector faces several challenges in mitigating fraudulent attempts. Additionally, as detailed in an editorial piece by The Paypers in which Jean-Christophe Lacour discussed the complexities of the industry, one of the main pain points indicated by companies is chargebacks.
To assist the travel sector in tackling these issues, fintech companies like FinMont started working with other players, including PRECISION and Protect Group, advancing innovation and mitigating fraud. On the other hand, Mint Payments rolled out Mint Protect, aiming to reduce risks associated with dispute credit card transactions for travel businesses.
As per a recent report by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the total full-year traffic in 2024 increased by 10.4% compared to 2023, while also being 3.8% above pre-pandemic levels. Looking ahead to 2025, the association indicated that the travel demand is set to continue expanding at a pace of 8%, more aligned with historical averages. To further support this shift, many airlines and travel industry players decided to partner with fintech companies to augment the payment experience for customers, from integrating additional payment methods that allow them to better manage their finances to security solutions that safeguard them throughout the booking process.
The beginning of the year saw two significant moves from JetBlue, with the airline initially implementing Venmo at checkout to provide customers with a secure and optimal payment option when booking flights directly on its website and teaming up with Barclays to roll out a credit card with travel benefits. Soon after, Air France-KLM collaborated with Amadeus to accelerate modern airline retailing development by utilising the latter’s Nevio solution. Amadeus also partnered with lastminute.com to improve the travel experience through NDC technology, while IndiGo adopted its Segment Revenue Management Flex solution to optimise operational efficiency and scale revenue opportunities.
In March 2025, Wizz Air made its announcement that it implemented a cashless payment system to upgrade its onboard services and, as of 1 April, all purchases were set to be processed exclusively through card payments. The airline’s move highlights the industry’s shift towards digital payment solutions and the departure from traditional methods that can be cumbersome and rather inconvenient for both travellers and crews. Additionally, Wizz Air and Revolut started working together to enable customers to pay with a single click when buying airline tickets online.
Shortly after, CellPoint Digital expanded its travel sector presence, initially by collaborating with Southwest Airlines and launching a new cloud-native payment orchestration platform, and then working with Sabre to augment the airline payment ecosystem.
Towards the end of April 2025, TAP Air Portugal integrated Klarna’s flexible payment options to assist travellers in Portugal in booking their flights more conveniently, with the airline following the BNPL industry trend. By implementing this payment method, businesses can benefit from scaled bookings and a more rewarding customer experience, while travellers receive increased flexibility and remove the need to pay upfront for their journeys. Klarna also expanded its presence in the rail industry by working with Eurostar on offering its BNPL options in the UK and France.
As travel demand is on the road to growth and digital experiences go mainstream, 2025 is presenting itself as a transformative year for travel payments. With travellers now expecting customised, convenient, and secure payment experiences, providers are in a position where they need to deliver on these preferences while also optimising their costs, minimising friction, and mitigating fraud.
Key trends shaping the travel sector include the rise of AI-enabled payment and security solutions, increased adoption of alternative and local payment methods, as well as Embedded Finance and sustainability and environmentally friendly practices. To decrease fraud, travel businesses may implement mobile wallets, including Apple Pay and Google Pay, in turn scaling security and simplifying the booking process.
Similar to other areas, AI has entered the travel sector in full force, revamping how individuals plan and experience their travels. Paul van Alfen, Travel Payments Strategist at Up in the Air, underlined how AI could affect or even disrupt several matters across travel payments, with a focus on airline transactions. With the rise of AI agents and personalised shopping, many secure integrations with payment partners will be required, leading to a scaled focus on data privacy. Additionally, AI will play a role in fraud management, mostly centring on combating AI-powered attempts conducted by a new generation of fraudsters. Beyond this, AI is further optimising core payment functions, improving orchestration, dynamic checkout flows, and intelligent routing and retry logic. Back-office operations are augmented through better reconciliation and transaction matching, minimising manual work and revenue leakage. Other noteworthy areas in which AI is upgrading include credit risk monitoring and forecasting, dispute management, and cost optimisation through data enrichment, routing, and interchange qualification.
These innovations are set to facilitate loyalty, additional revenue streams, and meeting ever-evolving customer expectations in the expanding travel market. As more fintech companies and travel providers team up, one thing is crystal clear: the journey to the future of travel payments is just getting started.
The Paypers’ Travel Series includes contributions on topics spanning emerging trends in travel payments, fraud and security challenges, regulatory and tax impacts, risk management and forex, as well as sustainability in the travel industry. For a complete overview of all the contributions featured, click here.
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