The International Air Transport Association has said airlines spend more than $24.5bn, or approximately $25bn, annually processing payments, highlighting the financial pressures facing the industry as it embraces digital technologies to improve passenger experience and strengthen financial resilience. 

IATA’s interim Director General, Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice-President, Corporate Services, Sandrine Le Borgne, revealed this on Wednesday at the opening of the IATA World Financial Symposium and World Passenger Symposium in Macao, where industry leaders examined the future of airline retailing, payments and digital identity.

At the event, she said airlines must look beyond the convenience of digital payments, artificial intelligence and biometric identification to ensure these innovations reduce costs, simplify operations and deliver sustainable financial benefits.

She said, “Today, a traveler can use AI to plan a trip. They can pay with a digital wallet and use biometrics for a more seamless journey at the airport. The challenge now is realizing the value that these innovations can create to make travel more efficient and improve financial resilience.”

IATA held that the growing use of AI assistants and automated agents to discover, compare and purchase travel services presents both opportunities and risks for airlines.

While these technologies could transform how passengers plan and book trips, the association stressed that airlines must retain control of their data, commercial relationships and the quality of information underpinning their services.

Le Borgne further held that modern airline retailing, built around the offers and orders framework, “is central to this transition. Seven airlines are already using or implementing Orders, while more than 20 others are expected to follow from 2027. Technology providers have also committed more than $1.7bn to Offers and Orders.

“Offers and Orders are the foundation; AI is the accelerator. They need to move forward together as AI increasingly reshapes how travel is discovered, sold, and serviced.”

The association maintained that airlines must integrate financial processes into their digital transformation from the outset rather than treat them as an afterthought.

Despite the convenience offered by digital wallets and other emerging payment methods, IATA warned that airlines must carefully assess their effects on transaction costs, cash flow and financial risk.

The IATA chief also called for reconciliation, settlement and revenue accounting to be incorporated into the transition to Offers and Orders to eliminate operational complexity rather than simply digitise existing processes.

Le Borgne noted, “New payment methods taking advantage of digitalisation, can increase customer choice, but also affect cost, cash flow, and risk. With airlines spending more than US$24.5bn annually to process payments, these effects must be considered together.

“Offers and Orders; Reconciliation, settlement, and revenue accounting must be built into the transformation from the start to remove complexity rather than simply digitize it.”

Also, beyond payments, IATA identified biometrics and digital travel credentials as important tools for making airport procedures faster and more convenient.

However, the association said the benefits remain limited because many biometric solutions operate within individual airports or countries, preventing passengers from enjoying a consistent experience across international journeys.

SoftBank-backed fintech, OPay, has raised $304m through its initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange, marking its entry into the US public market at an estimated valuation of $4bn.

The company offered 16 million American depositary shares at $19 each, the lower end of its initial price range of $19 to $21, with trading commencing on Friday under the ticker symbol, OPAY.

The IPO gives OPay access to international capital market investors and provides an opportunity to broaden its ownership beyond existing shareholders.

Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, Standard Bank and China International Capital Corporation served as joint book-running managers for the offering.

The fintech also granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase an additional 2.4 million shares to cover possible over-allotments. If fully exercised, the additional shares could generate another $45.6m, bringing the total proceeds to approximately $349.6m.

The company expects the offering to close on 2 November, subject to customary closing conditions.

OPay’s listing comes amid efforts to deepen its capital market presence beyond the United States, with plans for a secondary listing on the Nigerian Exchange Limited.

The company disclosed in October that its board and shareholders had approved the proposed Nigerian listing, which would potentially allow local investors to acquire stakes in the fintech following its primary listing in New York.

The proposed NGX entry could also make OPay one of the prominent technology companies to access Nigeria’s public equity market.

OPay’s public market debut follows significant growth in its payments business. The company processed $358bn in gross transaction value in 2025, more than double the $166.2bn recorded in 2024.0

Its monthly active users also increased to 39.3 million in 2025, from 25.1 million a year earlier, indicating expanding adoption of its digital financial services.

The company also reported a short-term investment portfolio valued at $532.94m as of 30 June, 2026, with a substantial portion invested through Nigerian asset management companies.

SoftBank entities held a 6.6 per cent stake in OPay before the IPO, according to the company’s regulatory filing.

The Chief Executive Officer of Airtel Nigeria, Dinesh Balsingh, said on Friday that it added more than 1,000 fifth-generation network sites in 2026 as the telco expands its infrastructure to meet growing demand for faster mobile connectivity and improve service quality across the country.

The executive made the disclosure at the launch of Airtel Open Network, a new feature on the My Airtel Africa app that gives subscribers greater visibility into network performance and a digital channel to report service issues.

The expansion forms part of the company’s broader network investment programme, which has taken its total number of network sites beyond 17,000, following the addition of more than 1,050 sites in the last financial year.

The deployment comes as telecommunications operators face increasing pressure to improve network capacity and coverage amid rising demand for mobile data, digital financial services and other internet-dependent activities.

Balsingh said the company’s infrastructure investments were aimed at extending connectivity and improving the experience of customers who rely on mobile networks for business transactions, education, communication and other daily activities.

“During the last financial year, Airtel Nigeria added more than 1,050 new sites and has surpassed 17,000 sites nationwide. This year, 2026 alone, Airtel has added more than 1,000 5G sites to date, expanding access to high-speed connectivity across the country,” he said.

Alongside network expansion, the operator is introducing digital tools to improve how it identifies and responds to service complaints.

The newly launched Open Network feature allows subscribers to engage with information about their network experience and submit feedback that could help the company’s technical teams identify the location and nature of connectivity problems.

Balsingh noted that conventional complaint channels, including call centres and physical customer service outlets, sometimes made it difficult to obtain sufficiently precise information about network challenges.

He explained that the digital platform would provide more detailed feedback, helping engineers investigate reported problems and direct attention to areas where improvements were needed.

However, he cautioned that the platform would not automatically repair network faults or eliminate service disruptions, describing it instead as an additional channel for gathering information and improving the company’s response.

Airtel is also expanding its physical customer service network, with more than 225 premium experience stores, and plans to increase the number to 500. It operates over 9,000 exclusive shops across local government areas and has more than 73,000 retail agents nationwide.

The launch builds on the company’s deployment of an artificial intelligence-powered spam alert service in March 2025. Balsingh said the service flagged more than 9.6 million suspected spam messages within its first two months.