African fintech Flutterwave has become a payments partner of the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
The integration will allow airlines flying to sub-Saharan Africa to facilitate transactions through all available payment methods that Flutterwave offers.
Serving around 290 international airlines including in Africa, IATA’s very own Financial Gateway (IFG) payment orchestration platform is a dedicated airline solution that enables local payments through all available distribution channels.
Muhammad Albakri, IATA’s Senior VP, Financial Settlement and Distribution Services, commented: “The IATA Financial Gateway supports the availability of new payment options in many markets. We welcome Flutterwave’s participation to bring secure and innovative payment methods to airlines, travel resellers and the travelling public in Africa.”
IFG further serves as a one-stop shop for airline ticket booking, integrating partners like Flutterwave so that airlines and travel agencies can rely on a single global connection instead of juggling between multiple payment service providers.
Olugbenga “GB” Agboola, Flutterwave CEO and Founder, added: “According to the International Air Transport Association, Africa is set to become one of the fastest growing aviation regions in the next 20 years with an annual expansion of nearly 5%. How can we further accelerate this growth?
“One way is to ensure airlines can easily set up operations across the continent and seamlessly receive payments from their customers. This partnership with IATA solves the problem of payments for global airlines venturing into Africa. We hope that this encourages more global airlines to expand into Africa.”