Payments · Sector guide · 4 min read
Airline payment costs: how to gain visibility and control
Airlines take most retail payments by card across many markets, channels and providers. Taking control starts with seeing cost and performance by region, card type and provider, then governing providers against that evidence.
By Steve Glover ·
- Who this is for
- Airline CFOs, heads of payments and treasury teams.
- Why it matters
- Payment costs are significant for airlines and spread across acquirers, settlement systems, channels and currencies. Without a unified view, decisions rest on assumptions.
Executive summary
- 1Measure payment cost and performance at a granular level.
- 2Check that pass-through fees and pricing are applied correctly.
- 3Govern providers with evidence and review regularly.
What should airlines measure?
Track average ticket, transaction cost, fraud rate, false positives, decline rates and authentication outcomes. Break them down by region, country, card type, issuing bank and acquirer. Differences that are invisible in a global average become clear.
Are pass-through fees really at cost?
Acquirers do not always apply the right pass-through fees. Transactions may be downgraded to higher interchange categories, and pricing errors occur. At airline volumes, these need independent checking.
How should providers be governed?
- Review cost and performance per provider against contract and market.
- Test changes in a controlled way and act on evidence.
- Balance fraud controls against declined good customers.
- Review payment method mix against customer preferences in each market.
Sources and methodology
- Bankhawk practitioner analysis. Third-party industry figures to be validated before reuse.
Get a clear view of your airline payment costs
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