Travel payments are only growing more complex, yet customers increasingly expect a frictionless experience when carrying out transactions online. Title Sponsor of Aviation Festival Americas 2026, WEX are committed to unifying this disparate landscape. Mark Bowmer, Senior Director of Partnerships at WEX notes how critical it is for airlines to resolve any complications in their payments architecture, or risk losing business:

Customers are not tolerant of any friction. If anything feels disjointed, they’ll actually abandon the sale. And this shift in expectations certainly impacts airlines.

As pioneers of virtual cards and experts in the orchestration, settlement, and distribution of travel payments, WEX works with a range of businesses across the travel ecosystem, from OTAs and TMCs to global intermediaries. In the aviation industry, Bowmer says they want to help clients become ‘true retailers’ against evolving customer habits. Especially as indirect bookings on the OTA side become more popular, WEX play a key role in removing risks and implementing a strategic response to these changes.

The keyword that pops up all the time is collaboration. It’s really critical that all the parties in the value chain work more closely together.

At Aviation Festival Americas 2026, WEX will be bringing these conversations to the fore with a keynote address from Jay Dearborn, CSO and COO International. His presentation will discuss the merchant record model, a distribution model that will change how travel agents process payments, ultimately simplifying the process for all parties.

WEX virtual cards support the merchant of record model. They help ensure that the payments are secure, the funds are guaranteed, and the capability actually enables the experience rather than doing anything to constrain it.

🎥 Watch the video to get the full interview with Mark Bowmer ahead of WEX’s attendance at Aviation Festival Americas.

Questions asked include:

  • Why is now the right time for airlines to be re-evaluating the fundamental connection between their transaction model and the traveller journey?
  • What is the number one thing you’re discussing with partners to ensure their payment strategy actually aligns with the seamless experience travellers now expect?
  • How does the Merchant of Record model specifically address these shifting traveller behaviours we’re seeing across the globe?

Join us at Aviation Festival Americas.

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