Travel technology firm Amadeus is planning to launch a new payments-focused business, with a prepaid virtual card set within its B2B wallet platform, to be its first offering. The Madrid-based company plans to launch Outpayce as a wholly owned subsidiary to meet its goal of offering “frictionless travel payments” to clients.
David Doctor, the executive vice president of payments at Amadeus, and future CEO of Outpayce, is optimistic about Outpayce’s introduction as a B2B travel payments resource.
Doctor said the new virtual card could be generated when travelers are booking in Amadeus’ Cytric platform. Travelers would be able to use it throughout the trip with their organization setting limits and restrictions on what and for how much it can be used. Amadeus and Outpayce will look to “plug in the gaps and take friction out of the whole process”, added Doctor.
Outpayce expects to hire more payment experts and technology engineers in the next few years – alongside the Amadeus employees and assets that will be transferred to the new company – to support product development and business expansion. It will also look at opportunities to expand in additional geographies beyond the EEA.
“Through our application for an eMoney license combined with our investment in talent and technology, we’re well placed to improve our current service to customers as well as expand the range of services, geographies, and customers we serve,” he said in the press release.
Besides its own offerings, Outpayce will work to develop an “integrated payment ecosystem” through which travel companies can connect to a variety of fintech providers through open APIs. It plans “significant” investment in that suite of APIs, said Doctor, and will build on its current platform that already provides services from several companies including Citi, Mastercard and PayPal.
