The Challenge
We understand the payment complexity of the GSA model.
Airline remittances across borders
You’re collecting ticket sales in local currency and remitting to airlines in their reporting currency—often across borders. International wire transfers take days, cost 2-4% in fees and FX spreads, and create compliance complexity. Airlines want timely, accurate remittances, but cross-border payment infrastructure wasn’t designed for GSA requirements.
Exposure to agent credit risk
You’ve already remitted to airlines, but you’re collecting from travel agents on credit terms. If an agent defaults or declares bankruptcy, you’re holding the loss—not the airline. Traditional credit insurance is expensive and doesn’t understand travel agency payment patterns. You need risk management that fits GSA economics.
Manual and costly settlement processes
You’re reconciling agent sales reports, deducting commission, converting currencies, and preparing airline remittances—often manually or with systems that weren’t designed for GSA operations. Every principal has different reporting requirements, remittance schedules, and commission structures. Automation is hard when every airline relationship is configured differently.
Why It’s Getting Harder
Industry shifts are complicating GSA payment operations.
Airlines demanding faster, more transparent remittances: Where airlines once accepted monthly remittances, many now want weekly or even real-time visibility into sales and collections. They expect API integration, automated reporting, and instant remittance confirmation. Legacy payment infrastructure wasn’t built for this level of transparency and speed.
Banking scrutiny on agency collection models: Banks are increasingly cautious about businesses collecting funds on behalf of third parties. GSA payment arrangements that worked for years are now triggering enhanced due diligence, additional documentation requirements, and questions about fund ownership and segregation.
Payment cost pressure on already-thin commission margins: GSA commission rates are under pressure while payment costs keep rising. Cross-border wire fees, FX spreads, and payment gateway charges eat into commission income. You’re expected to absorb these costs, but margins don’t have room for 3-4% payment fees.
Regulatory complexity across multiple jurisdictions: You’re operating under payment regulations in your home market, airline home markets, and anywhere you’re collecting payments. AML requirements, fund segregation rules, and payment licensing regulations all apply, but compliance guidance is written for banks, not GSAs.
How We Help
Payment advisory designed for GSA operations.
Airline Remittance Optimization
We design cross-border remittance flows that reduce costs and improve timing for airline settlements. This includes payment routing optimization, FX strategy for multi-currency collections, and selecting providers who understand GSA remittance requirements rather than treating you like a generic international payer.
Agent Credit Risk Management
We help you structure agent payment terms and credit controls that protect against default risk without requiring expensive credit insurance. This includes payment guarantee strategies, credit limit frameworks, and collection acceleration options that fit travel agency payment behavior.
Settlement Automation & Reporting
We identify opportunities to automate commission deduction, remittance preparation, and airline reporting. This includes payment platform selection that handles GSA-specific workflows, integration with existing reporting systems, and designing settlement processes that scale across multiple airline principals.
The Insider Advantage
We’ve operated within GSA economics.
Most payment consultants have never managed collections on behalf of an airline principal or structured cross-border remittances while managing agent credit risk. We understand the difference between payment advice for merchants (selling your own product) and GSAs (representing airline inventory on commission with agency collection responsibility).
When you tell us you’re remitting to three airlines in different currencies while managing credit exposure to 200 travel agents, we know exactly how that impacts your cash flow, FX risk, and commission protection. When you’re evaluating payment platforms that claim to handle agency collections, we know the questions to ask about commission automation, airline reporting capabilities, and cross-border settlement efficiency.
We’re independent—not tied to any payment provider, banking relationship, or airline. Our recommendations are based on what works for your airline representation agreements, your agent network, and your commission structure. We know which payment providers understand GSA economics and which ones don’t.
Get Started
Let’s discuss your GSA payment operations.
Book a 30-minute call to discuss your specific situation. No sales pitch—just a conversation about whether we can help.
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