IATA inches closer to updating BSP

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced that the IATA Passenger Agency Conference has adopted resolutions supporting the development of the New Generation of IATA Settlement Systems (NewGen ISS).

According to IATA, the resolution text adopted by the PAConf will enable the introduction of three pillars of NewGen ISS:

• A range of travel agent accreditation models that can better fit travel agent needs
• IATA EasyPay - a voluntary pay-as-you-go e-wallet payment solution for issuance of airline tickets in the BSP, and
• Global Default Insurance – an optional financial security alternative to bank guarantees for travel agents.

"Since its introduction 45 years ago, the Billing and Settlement Plan (BSP) has successfully facilitated the distribution and settlement of funds between travel agents and airlines, which totaled more than $230 billion in 2015,” said Aleks Popovich, IATA senior vice president for financial and distribution services. “But the one-size-fits-all model launched in 1971 no longer fits today’s vastly different operating environment.”

IATA said the PAConf also agreed to continue development of the fourth pillar of NewGen ISS: a new risk management framework to enable safer selling and mitigate default losses in the BSP.

A joint travel agent and airline working group was established to define a proposal by early next year and the related resolution text will then proceed to the PAConf for voting in 2017.