Travel technology firm Amadeus is planning to launch a new payments-focused business, with a prepaid virtual card set 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.
Amadeus has applied and is awaiting approval for an eMoney license from the Bank of Spain, which will provide the ability to offer payment services, such as accepting and transferring funds and issuing debit cards in the European Economic Area (EEA). Approval is expected to be granted early next year.
David Doctor, currently Amadeus’ EVP of payments, will become CEO of Outpayce when it launches on 1 January 2023.
Outpayce’s first service will be a pre-paid virtual card which could be launched in the third quarter of next year.
Doctor said this virtual card could be generated when travellers are booking in Amadeus’ Cytric platform. Travellers would be able to use it throughout the trip with their organisation setting limits and restrictions on what and for how much it can be used.
He added that cards would also be able to be issued in the B2B Wallet product, which agencies use to pay for travel services.
Amadeus and Outpayce will look to “plug in the gaps and take friction out of the whole process”, emphasised Doctor.
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.
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 "evaluate 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,” added Doctor.