In April, ARC brought together a record number of payment experts, technology companies and airlines for the annual ARC Payments Forum, an opportunity to discuss the most relevant topics and trends in travel payments. From streamlining settlement processes to fighting fraud and exploring emerging tech, industry experts collaborated to address opportunities and share updates in the ever-evolving payments space.

Updates That Matter: ARC on What’s Ahead

ARC set the stage by providing updates on developments shaping the future of the travel industry. The discussion highlighted regulatory changes, evolving payment trends and global data quality initiatives — each carrying implications as the industry moves toward broader adoption of Modern Airline Retailing.

As part of the session, ARC shared insights on key topics in the travel payments space, including:

• Fraud monitoring and prevention

• Data Quality

• Chargebacks and Debit Memos

• The future of Airline payments

Latest Insights from Leading Card Brands

Representatives from Visa and Mastercard took the stage to discuss the most pressing challenges for payment providers, including fraud prevention and mitigation, upcoming changes to data requirements and lessons learned since ARC’s last Payments Forum.

Fraud prevention was a hot topic this year — remaining an evolving issue as digital payment channels expand. This year’s presenters shared information about industry challenges and the importance of collaboration between payment providers, travel agencies and technology partners to stay ahead of emerging trends.

Shaping the Future of Payments

From reducing payment costs to managing Orders in next-generation settlement platforms, industry leaders shared insights into the most important trends shaping the future of travel payments. ARC Payments Forum panelists touched on the growing impact of Offers and Orders through NDC, the rise of Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) as a flexible payment option for travelers and a growth generator for airlines, and the critical need for payments data harmonization across systems and providers to ensure seamless, accurate and efficient processing in an increasingly complex ecosystem. 

ARC is always eager to bring travel industry experts together to collaborate on the best ways to move forward. On behalf of ARC and our colleagues who worked on this event, we would like to thank all attendees for an incredible experience at this year’s Payments Forum.