Finnair adopts Amadeus Agent Pay

Tech lets consumers pay without giving card details over the phone Continue reading →

A system which allows airlines to take payments more securely while improving the customer experience is being introduced by Amadeus.

Finnair is the first carrier to adopt Amadeus Agent Pay at its call centre in Finland in a bid to reduce manual payment errors and speed up call resolution.

Call centre staff send customers a link, via SMS or email, to a secure webpage. The customer can then complete the payment from their smartphone, tablet or PC.

Meanwhile, the ticket is kept on hold and issued automatically once the payment is completed.

This allows customers to pay how they want as well as making call centres more secure as they no longer have to handle card details.

Following the successful call center implementation, Finnair quickly recognized the opportunity to use Agent Pay in other channels too.

Finnair digital customer care manager Satu Karaksela said: “After seeing the positive impact on customer experience and call resolution times, we have also introduced Agent Pay for our chat-based customer service agents.

“Facilitating payments in this way has allowed us to resolve many more customer queries on first contact, improving customer service and freeing up agents’ time. We’re also testing Agent Pay at the airport.”

Passengers can also pay with alternative methods like PayPal and Alipay, just as they would in the airline’s web or mobile page.

Celia Pereiro, Amadeus head of travel payments, said: “Amadeus Agent Pay enables air travellers to pay simply, more securely and conveniently, making the best use of their conversation with call centre agents. We are confident that this new payment solution will help airlines offer greater customer experience in this channel whilst reducing their costs.

“Alternative payment methods have gained important traction in recent years.

“In today’s market airlines need to anticipate customer needs, wherever they are, so we cannot afford to overlook them – and Agent Pay is a simple solution for airlines to add choice and boost the experience in call centres.”