Nium partners with Air France-KLM to take airline payments to new levels

Nium Airline Payments (NAP) solution offers lower payment costs and more optionality

Real-time global payments provider Nium has announced its collaboration with Air France and KLM to power “closed loop” electronic payments between the airlines and selected travel agents. 

The Nium Airline Payments Solution (NAP) provides an alternative to travel agent card transactions, using a private network of trusted UATP authorization rails and bank transfers to offer lower costs, simplified reconciliation, and faster settlement.  

NAP eliminates intermediaries from the payment flow, giving Air France and KLM the flexibility to provide a new payment method for selected travel agent partners. 

Using NAP, Nium said it guarantees payment acceptance and reduces settlement time from hours down to minutes and seconds.  

“For decades, the travel industry has been grappling with complex, slow, and expensive payment methods," said Spencer Hanlon, Global Head of Travel Payments at Nium. 

"Nium is helping travel agents and their airline and hotel partners unlock the potential of global real-time payments, transforming the way money moves through the travel ecosystem for the better. 

"We look forward to helping Air France and KLM resolve some of the inequities – for both the airlines and for the travel-selling intermediaries – associated with outdated traditional payment models,” he said.

The airline and travel agent enter into a bilateral agreement, facilitated by Nium, on the use of the platform, to aid payment speed, acceptance and efficiency. 

This creates a one-to-one “closed loop” transparent commercial relationship between the travel agent and airline. 

“We built NAP with the goal of creating a more equitable and sustainable model between airlines and their agent partners around the world,"  added John Taylor, head of airline payments of Nium. 

"For airlines, payments are no longer the necessary cost of doing business, but a determining factor in distribution discussions, increasing control and collaboration within the indirect sales channel. 

"It’s great to welcome Air France and KLM to the NAP family and we look forward to bringing the solution to its travel agent network together."

The collaboration will see NAP rolled out to Air France and KLM’s travel agent network across Europe, starting in Italy with more markets to be added in the future.