Getting Fired Up About Payments

Heathrow is the most connected airport in the world. Whether passengers are starting their journey, ending it, or transiting through, this global hub is on an ambitious transformation journey to deliver a seamless experience, including every purchase they need to make along the way. Guided by its purpose of Making Every Journey Better, Heathrow is reimagining how payments can enhance the passenger experience from start to finish. Until recently, Heathrow did not have anyone dedicated to payments and accepted only cards and PayPal. This approach did not reflect the needs of its incredibly diverse global customer base, which represents almost every region, language, and payment preference. In response, Heathrow developed a comprehensive payments roadmap spanning trains, parking, VIP services, and retail, including a marketplace and a loyalty programme. In this session, Heathrow will share how organisations can assess their current payments strategy and determine what needs to evolve. This includes managing a broad range of stakeholders and building internal education around payments so the business is aligned on how to prioritise investment, allocate resources, and drive both growth and customer experience. Heathrow will outline how it has approached this transformation, the lessons learned so far, and how those insights continue to shape and refine its strategy. All of this supports its ambition to be an extraordinary airport that is fit for the future. The session will also address the importance of balancing long-term strategy with day-to-dayalways-on operational excellence. When a recent fire disrupted operations across the airport, it created new challenges for payments, particularly around business continuity. The experience became a valuable learning moment, reinforcing the need for resilience, operational readiness, and an always on payments ecosystem.

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