Sabre Travel Network has chosen the UK market to launch technology that will simplify payment processes for travel management companies (TMCs).

Sabre’s Travel Settlement Services is available to UK TMCs and is powered by Conferma, the provider of travel and expense (T&E) booking, settlement and reconciliation solutions.

Currently, UK-based intermediaries book their clients’ hotels using the credit card stored in the traveller profile.

Consequently, guarantees and payment settlement must be performed manually through a multi-step, time-consuming process.

With Sabre’s Travel Settlement Services, a virtual-credit card is created at the time of booking and is automatically sent to the supplier to guarantee the reservation.

At check-out, the virtual credit card is charged, and Travel Settlement Services automatically reconciles the booking to the payment.

The virtual credit card securely automates global supplier payment and reconciliation processes, bringing together the travel and payment transaction at the point of sale with a slick and easy-to-use system.

TMCs will save valuable time and money on manual payment processes, such as the hotel bill-back payment scheme, and decrease their vulnerability to fraud.

Key benefits include:

—Enables access to multiple payment and card partners

—Provides visibility of total spend

—Ensures travel policy compliance

—Eliminates risk of payment card fraud

—Increases productivity and reduces costs by replacing the manual, time-consuming processes with an automated, paperless process

—Accelerates billing and collections by simplifying the client invoice process

—Enhances data management capabilities by providing online transaction reporting that links payments directly to specific bookings

Harald Eisenaecher, Sabre Travel Network’s senior vice president for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, said, “Virtual payments eliminate expensive and time-consuming, labour-intensive reconciliation processes within the TMC.

“It will put an end to hotel bill-back, and minimise agency credit and fraud risk. The technology will save agencies time and money, allowing them to focus on servicing their travellers.”

Simon Baker, chief executive of Conferma, said, “Travel Settlement Services will enable more TMCs to benefit from our growing network of world-class banking partners and our acclaimed virtual card delivery, reconciliation and settlement technology.”

Travel Settlement Services is a fully-automated process in the Sabre Red Workspace and is fully PCI compliant.

The UK market is the first to benefit from the virtual payment technology. The service will be rolled out in other global markets throughout the year.