Case Studies
Forensic Cost of Payments Review Leads to Impactful Savings
A large, U.S. based airline, experiencing rapidly accelerating growth, partnered with our experts to conduct a review of their cost of payments acceptance.
Introduction
As a lean internal payments team, getting the level of granularity needed to accurately assess current technology and supply chain partners, as well as overall performance, was a challenge for the client. Our team was able to act as a payments partner to provide insights to uncover cost saving opportunities.
Key Achievements
- Amplified incentives from the debit networks, leading to impactful savings
- Significant 6-figure savings from optimized acceptance arrangements
- $2 million in savings from the RFP process
The Challenge
The airline space faces increasing levels of fraud, chargebacks, unique payment technology requirements, high levels of commercial and international spend, debit routing dual message requirements, and a wide range of fees incurred from a variety of different income streams (ticket sales, in-flight purchases, upgrade purchases etc.).
The client was struggling to have visibility of their entire payments landscape to accurately understand which card processors could service their unique payments needs.
The Solution
Our specialists partnered with the airline to conduct a thorough audit and benchmarking exercise – ensuring the clients’ arrangements were market-leading and future-proofed to support the airline’s rapid growth.
After uncovering significant six-figure savings during the audit, our experts led negotiations and helped implement arrangements and pricing structures to keep them ahead of the curve. We were able to achieve competitive rates, more favorable DCC arrangements, and cross-border payments optimization.
After a successful audit, we also led an RFP process, which reduced processing fees by 50% and improved the level of service from the client’s card processor. Although the client remained with their incumbent supplier after the RFP, our team was able to identify three additional potential processors in the market for possible future engagement.
The Results
The client enjoyed impactful savings from amplified incentives from the debit networks, significant 6-figure savings from optimized acceptance arrangements, and over $2 million in savings from the RFP process.
Our team is now partnering with the client on an ongoing basis to enhance approval rates – aimed at boosting revenue.