Repayd and Axcess Payments Group have introduced the Travel Payments Health Check, an online assessment designed to help travel sector businesses identify avoidable payment costs, improve cash flow, and retain more of the revenue generated from bookings. The tool is free, carries no obligation, and takes approximately ten minutes to complete.
The assessment covers the full payment journey, from the point at which a customer pays through to settlement and supplier payouts. It provides users with a personalised score and indicative estimates of potential annual savings, with the aim of showing where existing payment arrangements may be eroding margins.
How the assessment works
The health check takes into account each business’s transaction volumes, booking values, customer markets, and supplier commitments. Based on these inputs, it produces an overall score out of 100, supported by red, amber, and green ratings across seven areas: multi-currency pricing, cross-border cost, pricing transparency, currency alignment, payment method fit, cash flow, and supplier payouts.
Results include indicative estimates of potential annual savings, as well as opportunities to generate additional revenue through multi-currency pricing. Users receive their results online and by email and can choose to discuss the findings with a travel industry payments specialist. In addition, the companies note that all estimates are based on the information supplied and on benchmark rates, and do not constitute a quotation. Any subsequent pricing would be confirmed through a formal proposal.
Payment costs beyond the headline rate
The initiative examines how processing charges, foreign exchange margins, cross-border fees, and payout costs combine to affect the overall cost of each booking. For travel businesses handling high transaction volumes, small differences in these costs can accumulate into substantial annual expenditure. Fragmented payment arrangements can also add administrative work, while settlement delays and rolling reserves can restrict access to working capital.
According to the companies, payment infrastructure in travel often develops incrementally as businesses expand into new markets, add currencies, or introduce new payment methods. The health check is intended to help leadership and finance teams assess whether those arrangements still meet their needs and where a more detailed review may be warranted.
Will Plummer, CEO of Repayd, framed the issue as ‘how much of a booking’s value remains once the full payment journey is complete’, noting that a competitive acquiring rate can coexist with unnecessary currency conversions, expensive cross-border transactions, and inefficient supplier payouts. The official added that in travel, these costs need to be assessed alongside sector-specific factors such as long booking lead times, deposits and balance payments, international distribution, and the timing of supplier commitments.
Target segments and the role of each partner
The tool is aimed at airlines, cruise operators, travel technology platforms, online travel agencies, tour operators, destination management companies, and accommodation providers. It combines Repayd’s travel sector knowledge with Axcess Payments Group’s experience across acquiring, settlement, foreign exchange, and payouts.
Nick Fox, CEO of Axcess Payments Group, stated that the full cost of payments is not always visible in the headline processing rate, and that reviewing these elements together can reveal opportunities to reduce costs, release working capital, and cut administration. The official added that such reviews become more relevant as transaction volumes, markets, and supplier requirements change.
The companies position the health check as a starting point for a more detailed review of payment infrastructure and commercial arrangements, rather than as a final pricing assessment.
