Emirates, a Dubai-based airline, has introduced an industry-first account-based payment mechanism to improve customer service and help the sector recover from the effects of the coronavirus.
The white-label solution Emirates Pay was created in collaboration with International Air Transport Association (IATA) and Deutsche Bank in Germany, according to an announcement on the firm’s website today.
Emirates Pay is now accessible to Emirates customers in Germany and the United Kingdom who purchase tickets on the airline’s website. The new payments solution meets customer demand for more secure and frictionless payment alternatives, such as account-to-account payments that do not require a card.
How Emirates Pay works
Emirates Pay is an alternative solution for travelers to pay for online airline tickets by debiting their bank account. It operates based on real-time payments and Open Banking or Request-to-Pay systems.
With this innovative approach, the airline sends the essential account and payment information, and customers confirm payment initiation using their online or mobile banking.
Christof Hofmann, global head of Corporate & Payment Solutions at Deutsche Bank, expressed:
“We are very proud that Emirates, which is widely recognized as one of the world’s best airlines, is the first airline to implement the new payment solution. <…> The launch of Emirates Pay not only sends a very positive message to all of us that the airline industry is putting Covid-19 behind it but more importantly that Emirates is clearly focused on improving client experience at the transactional level when moving into a brighter, post-Covid-19 world.”
For airlines, the new payments solution provides a cost-effective payment option with shorter settlement times, resulting in increased airline liquidity and decreased payment fraud.
Recently, the Emirates Group reported a $6 billion (AED22.1 billion) deficit for the fiscal year ended March 31, compared to an AED1.7 billion profit the previous year in June. Revenues for the fiscal year totaled $9.7 billion, a 66% decrease from the same period last year.
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