The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has announced that its EasyPay service was launched in Cameroon, Chad, Congo, Gabon and Mauritius, with effect from Wednesday (August 30). EasyPay is a secure travel agency payments solution available to travel agencies accredited by IATA and to airlines that participate in its Billing Settlement Plan (BSP).

This takes the number of African countries in which EasyPay is available to 27. The addition of the latest five countries is intended to both improve IATA’s financial services and support the objectives of its Focus Africa initiative (which aims to maximise the contribution of aviation to African development).

“IATA EasyPay is an optional pay-as-you-go solution for travel agents, a simpler and more secure method for transacting with airlines through the BSP,” explained the association. “IATA EasyPay is a closed-loop electronic payment solution that is voluntary, secure, fast, flexible, and free of charge. It provides more flexibility and choice for accredited travel agents to manage their business challenges.”

The association lists five advantages to using EasyPay. First, it is entirely voluntary and is not intended to replace the BSP’s existing payment methods.

Second, it is secure. Travel agents must fund their EasyPay accounts and, when tickets are issued, the EasyPay system will verify if the necessary funds are available in the account, and secure them for the airline. However, travel agents will still be able to void ticket sales and reclaim their funds, using the usual procedures through the BSP.

Third, EasyPay is fast. The amounts due to airlines are settled every day, using normal BSP processes. The funds reach the airlines in 48 to 96 hours after the tickets are issued.

Fourth, it is economical. The cost per transaction is low, making it more cost effective for the airlines than credit card payments.

And fifth, it is flexible. Being secure, EasyPay transactions are not included in a travel agent’s “cash sales at risk”, which allows travel agents to reduce their financial security amounts with IATA. It also allows travel agents to carry out transactions that are not within their cash issuance capacity.