Pack your bags—it’s time to talk about advancements and opportunities in the travel industry. With more personalized experiences emerging from planning to takeoff, the industry must work even harder to stay ahead of evolving consumer expectations.
We’ve identified 3 key forces that are transforming travel in 2025—along with 3 opportunities for embedded payments solutions that help meet the moment.
Let’s dive into our 3 key forces.
1. New generations
Millennials and Gen Z are bringing their own unique expectations to travel, especially when it comes to payments. They’re looking for seamless payment experiences and innovative ways to fund trips over time with minimal disruption to their finances.
2. Supplier shakeups
Airlines, hotels, and car rentals were once “the big three” of travel. But online marketplaces that compare and bundle bookings, homeshares like AirBnB and VRBO, and the array of gig marketplaces that offer transportation, delivery, and other services have decisively segmented the marketplace. Helping buyers navigate these new offerings while paying diverse and fragmented suppliers presents a major challenge for travel businesses.
3. Evolving technology
In the past, travel brands could only dream of assigning a VIP customer specialist to every customer. But in today’s hyper-personalized market, these perks are a major incentive. In fact, in our 2025 State of Credit Report, we found that over 25% of U.S. and U.K. consumers see personalized rewards as a “need-to-have”. Now that AI agents are arriving at travel brands, every customer will have the opportunity to get a VIP specialist designing rewards for them—but only if brands can get the spending data.
Meeting the moment
So, how can travel brands ride these trends to success? Embracing embedded payment solutions that increase spend and satisfy customers—all while keeping suppliers happy—is the big opportunity that we see in 2025. And Marqeta has the tools and expertise to help you along the way.
Here’s how.
1. Unlock customer spend with Buy Now, Pay Later
Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) options have rapidly gained traction among Millennial and Gen Z travelers. These groups make up a significant portion of travel spending, and they are on the hunt for companies offering flexible payment solutions.
BNPL enables customers to book expensive trips without the upfront financial burden, turning "maybes" into confirmed bookings. And there’s more—by enabling installment payments, BNPL often motivates travelers to add premium upgrades, extended stays, or extra activities.
Integrating Buy Now, Pay Later options into your checkout experience may be key to boosting customer satisfaction and spending—and Marqeta’s BNPL solutions can help.
2. Real-time payouts for hosts, agents, and gig workers.
The gig economy has taken a starring role in industries like vacation rentals, ridesharing, and localized tours. And in the struggle to keep gig workers incentivized to work long hours and deal with demanding customers, real-time payments have emerged as a key incentive.
Many workers depend on timely, accurate payouts, and delays can lead to dissatisfaction or even attrition. Enabling real-time payouts helps ensure seamless transactions for a diverse marketplace, while promoting employee loyalty and retention. Prompt payouts also help establish credibility for platforms that rely on partnerships with individuals and small businesses.
3. White-label card programs to drive loyalty and power AI agents
White-label card programs are rapidly gaining popularity among travel companies. With card-issuing platforms like Marqeta, businesses of all types can now offer custom-branded debit or credit cards to their customers. These programs add new revenue streams and drive loyalty, and reward programs can also be specifically designed to service travel customers. And with the emergence of AI agents, rewards programs are about to get a lot more interesting.
With the right spending data, AI agents are able to serve customers with hyper-personalized experiences and offers. AI algorithms can thoroughly analyze cardholder data and booking histories to suggest destinations, flights, or add-ons tailored to individual customers—driving spend and increasing loyalty.
Smooth sailing for the travel businesses
Embedded payments aren’t just a trend, they’re the new frontier for the travel industry. By providing customers with seamless payment solutions, travel companies can stay competitive, improve efficiency, and grow their bottom lines.
From leveraging Buy Now, Pay Later and real-time payments to issuing white-labeled cards with AI-powered loyalty programs—the opportunities for travel businesses are continually expanding as we move into 2025.
Move forward with Marqeta
Is your travel business ready to unlock the power of embedded payments? Discover how our solutions can help revolutionize operations and delight customers at every step.
