VISA at AfterX 2026: On Payments as Product, the Future of Travel Distribution and What Comes Next

AfterX 2026 — Travelgate's post-conference gathering at Nikki Beach Mallorca — brought together over 1,000 travel distribution c-level for an afternoon that was as commercially productive as it was memorable.

VISA was the main sponsor. We sat down with with Ruta Greenslade, Director of Partnerships, B2B Travel at Visa to talk about why payments are no longer just infrastructure — and what that means for the companies in the Travelgate ecosystem.

Tell us about yourself and your role at VISA. What does Visa's work in the travel distribution sector actually look like day to day?

I’m Ruta Greenslade, Director of Partnerships, B2B Travel at Visa. My role is focused on building and developing global partnerships across the travel ecosystem, working with travel intermediaries, platforms, financial institutions, and technology partners to help make B2B travel payments more connected.

My background has always been in travel and distribution. Before Visa, I worked with companies including Trainline and Amadeus, so I understand how complex the travel ecosystem can be, particularly when you’re dealing with multiple suppliers, channels, markets, currencies, and settlement models.

At Visa, our work in travel distribution is very practical. Day to day, it means helping partners identify where payments are creating friction and where they can create value. That could involve improving payment automation, strengthening fraud controls, supporting virtual card use, enabling better reconciliation, or helping partners think through how payment flows can support growth in new markets.

The key point is that B2B travel payments are not just about moving money. They sit right at the heart of supplier relationships, operational efficiency, risk management, and customer experience. When payments work well, they can make the entire distribution model more scalable.

ConX 2026 explicitly argued that payments should be treated as product, not infrastructure — that payment flexibility changes who can book, not just how. Is the travel distribution industry actually moving in that direction?

Yes, and I think we are seeing that shift.

For a long time, payments were treated as infrastructure: necessary, operational, and often only discussed once the booking had already happened. But in B2B travel, that mindset is changing because companies increasingly recognize that payment capability can affect access, conversion, supplier confidence, and commercial growth.

If a distributor can offer more flexible payment options, stronger controls, better automation, and more reliable settlement, that changes who can participate in the ecosystem. It can help agencies access more inventory, give suppliers more confidence, and allow platforms to scale across markets with less operational complexity.

That is why payments are becoming a product conversation. They are no longer only about cost or compliance; they are about how a travel business enables transactions, manages risk, and creates value for both buyers and suppliers.

This aligns closely with what we are seeing across the sector. At recent travel payment discussions, including hotel payments panels, there has been a clear focus on automation, efficiency, and streamlining processes because these are now commercial priorities, not just operational ones.

VISA's network spans 200+ countries. For a travel distribution company in the Travelgate ecosystem, what is the most underused payment capability that would make a real commercial difference?

I would point to the strategic use of virtual cards with embedded controls and richer data.

Many travel companies already know virtual cards as a payment method, but they are often still underused as a commercial and operational tool. In B2B travel, a virtual card can be linked to a specific booking, amount, supplier, validity period, or currency. That creates much greater control, while also helping with reconciliation and reducing the need for manual intervention.

For a company in the Travelgate ecosystem, that matters because distribution is high-volume, multi-party, and often cross-border. You are dealing with many suppliers and buyers, and the payment requirements are not always the same. Having payment credentials that can be configured around the booking or supplier relationship can make a real difference.

The other underused area is data. Payments generate valuable information, but many businesses still do not use that data strategically enough. Better payment data can help companies understand supplier performance, improve reconciliation, reduce disputes, and make smarter commercial decisions.

And increasingly, this also connects to security. As AI becomes more embedded in travel distribution, payment security and tokenization become even more important.

Why did VISA choose to be the main sponsor of AfterX 2026 — Travelgate's most informal event — rather than a more conventional conference slot?

Travel is a partnership business, and the most valuable conversations do not always happen in the most formal settings.

AfterX reflects how the travel distribution ecosystem actually works: through relationships, trust, and open dialogue between platforms, suppliers, distributors, fintechs, and payment partners. A conventional conference slot can be useful, but an informal environment often gives people more space to talk about the real challenges they are facing.

For Visa, that is important. Our role in B2B travel is not just to provide payment capability in the background. It is to work with the ecosystem to understand where payments can reduce friction, improve security, support automation, and create better commercial outcomes.

That requires listening as much as presenting. AfterX gives us the opportunity to be close to the Travelgate community in a more comfortable way to understand what partners need, where the industry is moving, and how Visa can help support that next phase.

What is the most important shift coming in travel payments in the next 18 months — and is the industry ready for it?

The most important shift is from payment execution to intelligent, secure payment orchestration.

Travel companies are no longer simply asking, “Can we make this payment?” They are asking, “What is the right payment method for this booking, this supplier, this market, this currency, this risk profile, and this commercial relationship?”

That is a much more sophisticated question. It requires automation, better data, stronger controls, fraud prevention, tokenization, and more flexible payment options. It also requires payments to be connected earlier into product and distribution strategy.

AI will accelerate this shift. It has the potential to make travel distribution more efficient, but it also raises new questions around data protection, security, and regulation. That is why payment security and tokenization are so important. If AI systems are interacting with sensitive payment data, the industry needs to make sure the right safeguards are in place.

Is the industry ready? Parts of it are. The more advanced players already see payments as a strategic capability. They are investing in automation, orchestration, data, and stronger partnerships. But across the wider industry, there is still a mindset shift needed.

Payments should not sit only in finance or operations. In B2B travel, they increasingly need to sit alongside product, commercial, distribution, and risk teams. That is where the real value will come from.