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Thursday, July 09, 2009
Chris Gray
The boss of one of travel’s four main credit card payment processing firms has said he is “reassessing” its involvement with the industry.
 | Elias Elia: "The travel industry
is becoming riskier" |
Elias Elia, chief executive of E-Clear, revealed it had changed its trading terms with several clients but insisted it had been “very fair” to them all.
E-Clear has several major UK clients including Flyglobespan and Allbury Travel Group, which includes Libra Holidays, Argo and Jetlife.
He was speaking after the Slovak no-frills airline SkyEurope, which went into administration in June, said it was pursuing E-Clear for millions of pounds it claimed was overdue.
Elia said he had heard nothing about any possible legal action from SkyEurope and claimed his company had kept the airline “alive”.
Many no-frills airlines used companies such as E-Clear to keep cash coming in by selling tickets for flights a year ahead, he added.
E-Clear had also handled payments for collapsed businesses XL Leisure Group and Zoom Airlines, but Elia said his firm was insured for any exposure and the impact was “nothing we could not handle”.
But he warned that the travel industry had become “riskier”, which meant that E-Clear had to “change” its position regarding risks it took on.
Asked about E-Clear’s long-term involvement in the travel industry, he said: “We are reassessing the position.” This, he added, was standard for all sectors.
“If Thomas Cook has a question mark over it because of its parent and British Airways is facing problems, the industry is becoming more risky.”
Speaking at a recent Cimtig event on regulation, TTA operations director Gary Lewis said firms such as E-Clear had a bigger impact on travel firm operations than official regulators.
He claimed E-Clear was the most exposed of the main four as Abta and the CAA look to push liability for failures on to the credit card industry.
• Allbury narrows its losses by 86% (9 Jul 2009)
• Credit insurers tighten their grip on risky business (6 Nov 2008)
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