The TreviPay Aviation Networks Fuels FBOs to Process Invoices in Days

The Sector

The U.S. aviation industry is a complex ecosystem of interconnected service providers. Without knowing it, an average traveler relies on the services of multiple companies that each fulfill important roles. These include everything from fuel suppliers, ground handling, maintenance and de-icing, to catering, transportation and customs arrangements.

Typically, a pilot would use multiple services for every journey and all these would be coordinated by a single Fixed Base Operator (FBO) or a trip support service company. Combined, these services across the general and defense aviation market are worth $44 billion a year worldwide, according to Mordor Intelligence.

The Client

A Fixed Base Operator serving B2B clients and private individuals who require global concierge travel arrangements, including fuel and services. To meet the needs of these clients, the FBO coordinates with the various providers to deliver a completely tailored end-to-end, luxury service.

The Challenge: Manual Process and Delayed Billing

Back-office business practices in the aviation industry are traditionally manual and cumbersome. At the conclusion of a trip, all delivery tickets proving services must be collected and supplied to the FBO, who need to ensure the pricing is correct. This manual process, which can take weeks or sometimes months, needs to be completed before the FBO can bill its clients. 

As a result, FBOs often face delays in receiving sufficient information to enable timely billing. This can cause challenges that impact working capital necessary to support regular business operations. 

The Solution: The Global TreviPay Aviation Network 

The TreviPay Aviation Network, powered by KHI, is the most complete single network of 7,000 ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization) locations in 220 countries. For over 30 years, KHI has offered world-class payment technology and access to the largest international network of merchants for aviation and marine fuel and services. 

With one co-branded card, FBO’s clients can pay for all the fuel and aviation services they need from from the FBO, or any other supplier across the global TreviPay Aviation Network.

Real-time data flows between the FBO and its service providers with digitization replacing slow manual processes. Every transaction for every trip is captured and consolidated for each individual tail number, even when clients travel beyond the FBO’s locations. A daily reconciled report means the FBO can invoice its clients in days rather than weeks, or even months.

Valuable Level III data is captured for every transaction, no matter where clients spend with their card on the TreviPay Aviation Network. That means the FBO can gain insights on their customers’ purchasing behavior, even when spending with competitors. These purchasing insights enables the FBO to drive powerful customer loyalty programs to grow volumes and increase its share of wallet.

Streamlined Payments and Invoicing

As part of the TreviPay Aviation Network, FBOs can enjoy streamlined payments and invoicing as part of a TreviPay Aviation Network from payment processing and invoicing to reconciliations, disputes and collections. 

 The co-branded card enhances their white-glove customer service with real-time purchasing data, better oversight of price guarantees, and a seamless customer purchasing experience. 

Customers will also benefit from rewards earned on purchases providing efficient credit line management through timely invoicing and customer payments. 

The TreviPay Aviation Network addresses the current lack of connectivity within the aviation industry, which is especially evident in markets outside the U.S. By combining the global reach of KHI relationships and its aviation expertise with TreviPay’s commercial invoicing technology, the network supplies a strong competitive edge over other service providers on the global stage. 

Summary

The FBO now offers a fully digitized payment and invoicing process that simplifies the complex aviation supplier ecosystem. The elimination of manual processes and delivery ticket collections ensures the FBO gets paid on time, every time with cash flow released to fund crucial business priorities. 

Benefits for the FBO: 

• Ability to issue a co-branded card solution provided by a trusted, agnostic provider. 
• Easy invoicing and service specialized for aviation: The TreviPay Aviation Network will eliminate the need for FBOs to chase paper receipts to invoice their customers. The entire invoicing process is digitized and streamlined. TreviPay manages the processing, invoicing, AR, support, disputes, collections, and reconciliation, thereby freeing up FBOs’ time and capital to run their business. And the network is built specifically for the aviation industry; invoices are customized with every detail – even the tail number of the plane. 
• Drive competitive advantage: A co-branded card will deliver billing and pricing alliances to clients, and will also allow FBOs to track customer purchasing activity and issue loyalty rewards. 
• Save money versus open-loop options: The TreviPay Aviation Network’s closed-loop card will save FBOs considerably on fees versus offering an open-loop card.

Benefits for FBO’s clients: 

• A single card that can be used everywhere: Cardholders will be able to use a global aviation payment card that is accepted by all vendors at a FBO within the KHI network. FBO customers will no longer struggle to pay multiple service providers for one landing.
• Tail-specific reporting and prompt receipts: Customers will receive timely billing with a single, consolidated invoice per stop, which includes transactional data to Level III, with tail number streamlined reconciliation. No more waiting for delivery of receipts from multiple lifts and delaying trips. 
• Controls to eliminate friction: Negotiated prices will be locked in, so there will be no billing confusion and purchasing controls between cardholders and suppliers will reduce invoice disputes.

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