The Growing Challenge: Securing Traveler Payment Data

In today’s digital travel ecosystem, agencies and booking platforms handle huge volumes of sensitive information, from passport numbers and itineraries to payment card data.

This data is a goldmine for cybercriminals, and even a single compromised 16-digit number can trigger fraudulent transactions and reputational damage.

To protect this information, the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS) sets mandatory controls for any business that stores, processes, or transmits cardholder data. For travel companies, compliance is critical to maintaining traveler trust.

What Travelers Think About Data Security

According to a Qashio for Travel survey of over 4,500 travellers across five countries:

• 68% said a data breach would negatively impact their trust in a travel company
  
  
• 35% do not trust travel companies to protect their card details
  
  
• 76% would avoid saving payment details with a company that had suffered a breach
  
  

These insights show a clear truth: trust is the foundation of frictionless digital payments. Without robust security, even the best user experience can’t convert.

Virtual Cards and One-Time-Use Cards: The Future of Secure Travel Payments

Forward-thinking travel companies are adopting One-Time-Use Cards (OTCs) and Virtual Card Concepts (VCCs) to enhance payment security while keeping the booking experience seamless.

How They Work

Instead of storing a traveller’s actual card details, a secure system generates a unique virtual card number for each transaction or booking:

• One-Time-Use Cards (OTCs): Valid for a single transaction and expire immediately after use.
  
  
• Virtual Card Numbers (VCCs): Designed for recurring or time-limited payments with custom spending limits and expiry dates.
  
  

This method keeps sensitive card data off your servers, reducing exposure, fraud risk, and PCI-DSS complexity.

Why Leading Travel Companies Choose Qashio for Virtual and One-Time-Use Cards

1. Enhanced Security

Each card is uniquely generated. If compromised, it becomes instantly useless, protecting your company and your customers from unauthorised use.

2. Lower Operational Costs

Qashio’s in-house infrastructure reduces reliance on third-party issuers and acquirers. This means lower integration costs and faster deployment tailored for travel industry use cases.

3. Simplified PCI-DSS Compliance

Because virtual and one-time cards minimise direct handling of cardholder data, Qashio absorbs much of the compliance burden, saving your finance and IT teams significant time and resources.

4. Seamless Payment Experience

Travellers don’t have to re-enter real card details for every booking, a major frustration for 54% of travellers. This convenience drives faster checkouts, fewer drop-offs, and higher conversion rates.

Security as a Brand Advantage

Security is now a competitive differentiator.

In the same Qashio study, 72% of travellers said they would choose a company with a strong reputation for secure payments over one without. Building trust through secure infrastructure is now a strategic growth driver.

How Qashio for Travel Makes It Simple

With Qashio for Travel, agencies and booking platforms can:

• Protect and tokenise traveller payment data
  
  
• Simplify PCI-DSS compliance
  
  
• Deploy one-time-use and virtual card solutions seamlessly
  
  
• Offer secure, frictionless payment experiences
  
  

Qashio’s payment technology empowers travel companies to build trust, reduce risk, and future-proof their payment systems,all within a compliant and scalable framework.

Ready to Strengthen Your Travel Payment Security?

Speak to our travel payment experts today to discover how Qashio for Travel can help your business store and process traveller payments securely and compliantly.

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