Adyen and lastminute.com Expand Partnership with Virtual Card Issuing for Faster Supplier Payouts

Quick Summary

Adyen has expanded its partnership with lastminute.com by integrating virtual card issuing to streamline supplier payments. This solution accelerates payouts to hotels and airlines by up to three days, reduces reconciliation times by 5%, and significantly lowers currency exchange costs through a unified fintech platform.

How Does Virtual Card Issuing Optimize Travel Supplier Payouts?

Virtual card issuing serves as a critical tool for travel platforms managing complex global networks. By utilizing Visa-branded prepaid cards, lastminute.com can now automate fund distribution to airlines and hotels, bypassing the manual hurdles of traditional banking. The system allows for instant card generation in multiple currencies, which directly addresses the volatility of foreign exchange rates.

• 3-day acceleration in supplier fund accessibility.
• 5% reduction in manual reconciliation workloads.
• Instant issuance of multi-currency virtual cards.

What Operational Benefits Does a Unified Payment Stack Provide?

Integrating virtual card issuing into an existing pay-in stack creates a closed-loop efficiency that traditional setups lack. For lastminute.com, this meant a rapid one-month rollout that consolidated both customer collections and supplier disbursements. This synergy has historically helped the brand reduce launch times for new payment methods by 70% while cutting associated operational costs by 60%.

How Does This Technology Improve Business Agility?

By automating the backend, teams can shift focus from manual data entry to high-value strategic growth. Real-time visibility into available account balances ensures that the travel group maintains optimal liquidity. This agility is essential in the travel sector, where dynamic holiday packages require split-second financial accuracy across various international jurisdictions.

“The collaboration with lastminute.com is a concrete example of how technology can transform payment management, making business processes more agile and efficient” said Gabriele Bellezze, Country Manager Adyen Italy.

FF NEWS TAKE:

This move by Adyen and lastminute.com definitely moves the needle by proving that virtual card issuing is no longer just a 'nice-to-have' but a core requirement for travel-tech scalability. By bridging the gap between pay-ins and pay-outs, Adyen is effectively turning a cost center into a competitive advantage. For an industry plagued by thin margins and complex reconciliation, this level of automation is the new gold standard for operational excellence.