IATA launches two new services to reduce credit card merchant fees and fraudulent operations

The International Air transport Association (IATA) has announced the launch of two services for airlines around the world to reduce costs and help manage risk associated with credit card operations.

The IATA CreditCard Optimisation Service will reduce commission rates and service charges, improve speed and method of payment and create a single point of contract for all credit card negotiations. The negotiations will be based on complete audit of all credit card contracts of a participating airline and the results will be benchmarked against a proprietary database to identify gaps. New agreements will then be negotiated with banks to bring greater savings. This unique service is offered in cooperation with CreditCard Optimisation Ltd., back and front office cost reduction subject matter experts, who have achieved significant savings for the airline industry for the past 15 years.  

The second service called IATA Perseuss is an online database, which allows airlines to legally share data about fraudulent credit card transactions. Payment card fraud is estimated to cost the airline industry close to USD 1.4 billion annually.