Study: Payments security influences travel purchase decisions

A new survey commissioned by travel payments specialist Outpayce from Amadeus, reveals an unease over payment security.

It finds over 70% of travellers saying they would choose a travel company based on a strong reputation for secure commerce.

It surveyed 4,500 travelers across five markets.

The findings highlight the increasing importance travellers place on secure payments, showing that security has become a key factor influencing purchasing decisions.

When asked whether a 5% discount would tempt them to travel with a company that has poor cyber security, the vast majority (67%) said ‘no’, with 26% answering ‘yes’.

On average, respondents said they would require a 38% discount to be persuaded to book a travel company with a reputation for poor cyber security.

On a global basis, half of respondents say they have been a victim of payments fraud.

Notably, rates of fraud are much higher in some markets, like Brazil, where nine in every ten respondents have been a victim.

On a global basis, 64% of travellers also said they perceive payment fraud to be on the increase.

The travel industry remains a target for organised fraud rings due to the significant transaction values and cross-border nature of the industry.

A recent study from Juniper Research found that 46% of all payments fraud is targeted at the airline industry.

Industry efforts to prevent fraud received mixed reactions from travelers, the survey found.

Two of every three claim that a travel company has declined a legitimate purchase, even when they have sufficient funds.

Most respondents said this created a negative perception of the company. Such experiences suggest the industry is struggling to accurately identify fraudulent payments and is likely to be declining a significant number of legitimate transactions leading to abandonment.

Low trust in travel companies’ cyber security capabilities

Despite respondents choosing to store card details with four different merchants on average, trust in travel companies is low.

It says 63% of travellers are reluctant to store their payment details with travel companies due to concerns over fraud, data privacy, and unauthorized charges.

A third of respondents said they do not trust travel companies to keep their payments data secure at all.

Tokenization, which replaces sensitive payment card data with a secure token, is emerging as a crucial technology that reduces risk.

Jean-Christophe Lacour, SVP & Global Head of Product & Delivery, Outpayce from Amadeus: “It’s clear that there is an issue with the perception of security, which is making it harder to deliver smooth one-click payments.”

Widely publicized data breaches have reduced consumer confidence and the industry needs to take proactive measures to rebuild trust. New approaches like ‘tokenization’ and fraud screening solutions can really help transform the payment experience.”

Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) and Strong Customer Authentication (SCA)

The majority of travel purchases initiated in Europe now incorporate Two-Factor Authentication (2FA). 2FA typically requires the traveller to authenticate using a One-Time Passcode or biometrics.

Despite concerns that this additional step may introduce friction to the purchase process, most respondents (75%) said performing 2FA was ‘easy’ last time they purchased travel online.

Only 9% said it was ‘difficult’.

however nearly half of travellers in the survey say they have abandoned a travel purchase when asked to perform 2FA, which is significantly higher than any other industry.

The survey was conducted by research firm Opinium during Q4 2024 with 4,500 travellers from France, Brazil, the UK, US and Singapore.

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