AirAsia Slash Cost of Agency Bookings with eNett Virtual Account Numbers

eNett International and AirAsia have signed an agreement enabling agents to purchase AirAsia flights using Virtual Account Numbers (VANs) at significantly lower costs.

In a first of its kind deal, agents using VANs will forego the current surcharges applied to traditional credit card payments, saving over 70 percent on fees and making VANs the cheapest form of credit card payment for AirAsia flights.

Under the terms, AirAsia — Asia’s largest low cost carrier — will add VANs as a payment option in its own agency booking platform, and accept VANs through the Travelport Travel Commerce Platform. Agents choosing VANs will be exempt from the surcharge currently applied to traditional credit card payments, and benefit from a lower fee. This significantly reduces the cost of booking for the agent, as well as saving on processing costs for AirAsia. The solution will be rolled out in Australia in the early 2016, and apply to AirAsia X flights initially, before being extended to other brands and markets globally throughout 2016.

An eNett VAN is an automatically generated MasterCard number used for supplier payments and can include payment parameters such as amount, currency, date and merchant, making it a more secure way to pay or be paid. Backed by the MasterCard guarantee and generating unique numbers for each transaction, eNett VANs provide protection against fraud and supplier default.

“We’re committed to offering the most competitive fares in the market”, AirAsia’s Group Head of Sales, Rayner Teo Kheng Hock said.

According to Teo Kheng Hock, reducing the cost of booking means agents can use these savings to offer the lowest prices to their customers. “It also means we can reduce the cost of processing payments and incentivise agents to book with us, keeping our cost base down and supporting our rapid expansion globally.”

VANs are seamlessly integrated with Travelport’s Travel Commerce Platform, and also integrated with other leading GDSs, enabling agents to pay suppliers with VANs from within their booking flow. This allows agents to make multiple payments without having to leave their desktops, and go through the time-consuming process of filling out booking and payment details — saving time and money.

eNett Managing Director and CEO, Anthony Hynes, said, “Through VANs, AirAsia gains access to a broader range of agents, while receiving immediate and guaranteed payment. For agents, paying by VANs reduces costs, while gaining significant efficiency gains through integration. The end result is agents can spend more time and resources growing their own businesses.”

He added that the partnership illustrates how implementing innovative B2B payment models and technology can bring tangible benefits for the industry as a whole.

For more information and to register interest, agents can visit here.