Cathay Pacific and Adyen have expanded their long-term payments partnership to include direct acquiring services across six markets.
The two companies first established their partnership in 2014, and the relationship has since grown to become a central component of Cathay Pacific's payments infrastructure. The latest expansion broadens the scope of Adyen's role, extending direct acquiring capabilities into markets where the agreement has recently been finalised.
Direct acquiring allows a payments platform to process transactions without relying on third-party acquiring banks, typically resulting in greater control over authorisation rates, reduced processing fees, and improved visibility into transaction data. For an airline operating across multiple geographies, this model can reduce the complexity of managing several local payment relationships whilst enabling consistent performance monitoring from a single integration.
The most recent deployment covers India, where Adyen's acquiring infrastructure has been introduced to stabilise payment performance in a market characterised by varied card network rules and localised compliance requirements.
The expansion reflects a broader trend in global commerce, where airlines and travel operators are investing in payments infrastructure as a lever for commercial performance. Authorisation rates are particularly significant in the airline sector, where declined transactions at checkout can lead to direct revenue loss and increased customer drop-off.
Strategic context
Adyen operates as a single-platform provider, combining payment gateway, risk management, and acquiring services within one integration. For multinational businesses such as Cathay Pacific, this architecture reduces the operational overhead of managing multiple regional payment providers while enabling localised optimisation.
The partnership's expansion into India is notable given the market's regulatory environment. The Reserve Bank of India maintains specific requirements around data localisation and transaction routing, making stable acquiring infrastructure in the country a meaningful operational consideration for international businesses.
A company official at Cathay Pacific noted that the ability to ensure secure transactions and support expansion into target markets was central to the airline's decision to deepen the partnership. Adyen's president for Asia Pacific indicated that the focus of the collaboration is on converting the complexity of cross-border payments into a source of commercial advantage.
For more information about Adyen, please check out their detailed profile in our dedicated, industry-specific Company Database.
