Ensuring Financial Integrity in Travel Agencies: A Guide to BSP/IATA Reconciliation

Ensuring Financial Integrity in Travel Agencies: A Guide to BSP/IATA Reconciliation

In the world of travel agencies, ensuring financial integrity is paramount. **Bank Settlement Plan (BSP) and International Air Transport Association (IATA) reconciliations play a pivotal role in maintaining accuracy and transparency in financial transactions. Let’s delve deeper into the significance of these reconciliations and their differentiation within the travel industry.

IATA stands as the global trade association for airlines, whereas **BSP** acts as a system facilitating financial transactions between travel agencies and IATA airlines. Understanding this difference is fundamental to comprehend their interrelation and impact on financial operations.

What is BSP in travel?

BSP, an integral part of travel agency operations, streamlines the ticketing process by providing a standard platform for payment and settlement among agents and airlines. This system ensures financial accuracy and transparency in ticket transactions.

What is BSP in Amadeus?

Amadeus, a prominent Global Distribution System (GDS), incorporates BSP functionality, facilitating travel agencies in efficiently managing financial transactions and reconciliations, ensuring accuracy and compliance with BSP guidelines.

What is ARC and BSP?

Airlines Reporting Corporation (ARC) is the equivalent of BSP in the United States. Both systems, ARC and BSP, operate on similar principles, enabling travel agencies to process ticket sales, reconcile payments, and maintain financial accuracy.

What is ARC for travel agencies?

For travel agencies operating within the U.S., ARC serves as a critical platform for managing ticket sales, financial settlements, and ensuring compliance with industry standards and regulations.

What is ARC in travel?

ARC plays a pivotal role in the U.S. travel industry by providing a standardized platform for financial transactions, akin to BSP’s role on a global scale.

IATA BSP GDS

Global Distribution Systems like **IATA BSP GDS** amalgamate various functionalities crucial for travel agencies, including BSP reconciliation, ticket issuance, and financial settlements within a unified platform.

The Benefits of Automating Data Processing for Travel Agencies

Embracing automation brings numerous advantages, revolutionizing how agencies handle data processing and reconciliation. Let’s explore nine pivotal benefits:

The multifunctional capacity of automations

Implementing automation, such as Conciliac’s EDM platform, saves considerable time previously spent on manual reconciliations. Travel agencies leveraging this technology witness an astounding reduction in the time required for reconciliation processes.

The simplicity and practicality of using EDM automation software: Conciliac’s EDM software offers a user-friendly interface, eliminating the need for specialized technical expertise. Unlike previous methods reliant on individuals’ expertise, this turnkey solution ensures accessibility and ease of implementation for anyone in the agency.

The scalability of an enterprise data management platform for process automation: Conciliac’s EDM goes beyond mere cross-referencing; it transforms data formats, significantly reducing manual efforts. This scalability not only saves time but also decreases error margins, enabling agencies to expand their opportunities.

  • Integration with sources: EDM’s Data Integration module simplifies source integration, offering a seamless connection via API, ERP, Databases, FTP, and Sharepoint, eliminating the complexities associated with disparate data sources.
  • The possibility of robotizing automations: RPA (Robotic Process Automation) amplifies automation benefits, allowing agencies to systematize repetitive actions, enhancing efficiency and turning companies into data-driven entities.
  • The evolution in the collection of more and better data: Real-time data access through EDM connected via API empowers agencies, offering unrestricted access to vital information, enabling agile decision-making and fostering industry growth.
  • Traceability of historical information: EDM’s capabilities enable agencies to reconcile historical data efficiently, even after operational disruptions like the pandemic, ensuring accuracy despite overwhelming volumes of data.
  • Immediacy of results: Conciliac’s EDM offers instant results, empowering agencies to witness tangible improvements in performance within the first month of implementation, accelerating profitability.

The ability to reallocate and improve the performance of talent: Automation liberates employees from mundane tasks, allowing them to focus on high-value assignments, enhancing efficiency, and minimizing errors within the agency.

Embracing Technology for Growth: Conciliac’s EDM emerges not only as a complete solution for data processing automation but also as a knowledge source, empowering travel agencies to harness the potential of proper data.

A Guide to BSP/IATA Reconciliation

IATA fully leverages all the functionalities of the Conciliac EDM platform:

  • API Connector: IATA offers paid APIs that enable direct integration without the need to download files.
  • Transformation: We can read IATA’s PDFs (customization required) or TXTs.
  • Data Match: Logical cross-matching can be applied involving ticket issuance date, ticket number, passenger name, and concerning the amount, values can be utilized with or without commissions, payments in cash, by card, or a combination of both. All parameters are customizable by the user.

Subsequently, it can be robotized, and RPAs can be run for each IATA the client possesses, at the defined frequency, with the reconciliation result sent via email.

BSP-IATA reconciliations are among the most common scenarios addressed in Conciliac; almost all our travel clients utilize Conciliac to automate this task. Data can be extracted from IATA in various formats, including API, but this incurs a cost from the IATA side. The current and most accessible format for working with IATA reconciliations is TXT, as it incurs no additional cost and presents fewer errors in transformation compared to a PDF.

Interested in streamlining your BSP/IATA reconciliation processes? Schedule a free demo with us today to experience the power of Conciliac EDM in optimizing your travel agency’s financial operations. Contact us now to get started without any obligations!