PayFort, the Arab world's leading online payment gateway, has announced a new partnership with Amadeus, delivering full integration with Amadeus e-Power online travel booking solution for travel agencies. One of the largest online booking solutions in the world, Amadeus e-Power allows travel agencies to grow their e-commerce presence and provide customers the ability to shop and book travel via an agency's own website or mobile apps. "We are very pleased to announced PayFort's partnership with Amadeus. By integrating the PayFort payment gateway with Amadeus e-Power we hope to open up a world of opportunity for Middle East travel agencies," said Omar Soudodi, Managing Director of PayFort. "While airlines were early adopters of online payment services. it has taken some time for the travel services sector to catch-up and many travel agencies in the Middle East and North Africa have yet to fully embrace e-commerce. This new integration will ultimately help more travel agencies in the region drive more online sales, by making it easy to offer customers better online payment options and create a stronger appeal for ‘millennials' who have a strong preference for booking all travel requirements via digital or mobile channels." Online travel is now the fastest growing payments sector in MENA. According to PayFort State of Payments 2016 research, online payments in the region›s travel sector grew by 42 percent from $3.195 billion in 2014 to $4.549 billion in 2015. Meanwhile, transactions in the airline sector grew by 17 percent from $10.20 billion in 2014 to $11.97 billion in 2015. The fastest growing online travel sectors were identified as the United Arab Emirates, which showed a 45 percent increase in transactions from $1,14 billion in 2014 to $1.65 billion in 2015, and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which saw a 68 percent increase in transactions from $0.92 billion in 2014 to $1.55 billion in 2015. PayFort expects the volume of transactions in Middle East's travel sector to exceed $15 billion per annum by the year 2020. Amadeus e-Power puts the power of a GDS (global distribution system) at the travel customer›s fingertips, offering a full range of air, hotel and car content through one single view. ePower also integrates Amadeus Master Pricer, the leading fare search technology, which returns not only the least expensive bookable fares, but also the most convenient itineraries, the widest choice of airlines, together with date flexibility, all with real-time availability. "Today's travellers are looking for consistency, transparency and choice. Our partnership with Payfort makes it easy for regional travel agencies to offer customers payment options and enhance customer service levels,» Said Antoine Medawar, Vice President, Amadeus MENA. «We see significant growth still to come in the region›s online travel services market and e-Power allows agencies to offer global information and bookings, whilst localizing and branding their own services to suit their customers› needs.» PayFort has made online payments safe and secure for buyers and sellers across the Middle East and North Africa, delivering a complete suite of payment solutions that are tailored to Arab online buying habits and trends. PayFort offers a variety of safe and secure e-payment solutions that can cater to any size of business from the region's largest enterprises, through to small to medium enterprise (SME) and startup operations. PayFort utilizes a secure payment network that is built using the most sophisticated and up-to-date fraud prevention, all while providing complete flexibility in offering online payments. In addition to providing unrivaled security, the gateway accepts a variety of payment methods, including local currency payments from services such as Fawry in Egypt, SADAD in Saudi Arabia and e-Dirham in the UAE. PayFort is the payment platform for the leading e-commerce websites across the Arab world — such as Nile Air, Air Arabia, Flyin, Travelstart, Akbar Travels, Orient Travels, Rayna Tours, Almousafer.com, Altayyaronline.com, Souq.com and BEIN Sports, to name a few. These sites rely on PayFort to manage their payment processes easily and securely so they can focus on improving the customer experience. — SG
