Modulr, the Payments-as-a-Service API platform for digital businesses, and Paxport, the Travel Technology and Services giant, have today announced a partnership to provide a new flexible payment solution for online travel agencies (OTAs) and tour operators. 

Paxport connects providers and sales channels through its automated merchandising and distribution system for the travel industry. By partnering with Modulr, the company will be able to offer 24/7, real-time payments to its customers and provide tour operators and travel agents with a wider choice of payment options. 

Modulr’s digital payment accounts will enhance Paxport’s new payment service, Pax2Pay, by enabling customers to pay out using multiple payment methods and currencies, including virtual cards, Faster Payments, SEPA, with more coming soon.

Pax2Pay will also help to reduce administrative costs for the OTAs and tour operators by centralising reconciliation – reducing the complexity of manually moving payments back and forth between multiple payment service providers. It will enable Paxport to offer an improved service to the 80+ airlines and 250+ resellers that use its system every day.  

“Payments should be simple – they’re the lifeblood of any business,” said Tony Barker, CEO at Paxport. “Each year we process over £300m of travel commerce transactions and it’s important we remain at the forefront of faster, easier and more reliable payments by partnering with a Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)-regulated payments provider that is innovating on the back of recent regulatory changes, such as PSD2. The travel industry is extremely competitive, and we have to ensure we’re constantly improving the level of service to our global clients.  

“Modulr is not burdened by legacy systems, meaning we receive a range of benefits that other financial technology companies simply cannot provide in one place. Integrating its API into our search and booking software will enable us to provide an experience that is flexible, easy to manage, and saves significant expenditure." 

Myles Stephenson, CEO at Modulr, stated: “The world-travel industry generates $1.4 trillion in revenue annually[i]. However, the movement of money between the different travel companies is far from smooth. Airlines, hotels and OTAs are having to juggle multiple payment service providers – making reconciliation time consuming and cumbersome. 

“Our quick, easy and secure digital payment services will help Paxport to improve their customer experience by offering a choice of real-time payment methods; all in one place, available 24x7, 365 days of the year.”