Banks used to be content to offer a co-branded credit card featuring travel brands as their preferred partner. They were the intermediaries, happy to make money on interchange payments and maybe a little more on foreign exchange. Oh, how things have changed. Financial institutions increasingly are eating the lunch of travel sector players.
Nick Vournakis, head of corporate solutions at Chase Travel Group, called this the "white space." It's that sweet spot between payment, expense, loyalty and travel bookings that big banks quietly have been exploiting in recent years. They have scale, trust and deep customer relationships on their side and enviable pools of data to exploit.
"It is now a core business for us," stated Sarah Moore, head of Capital One Travel. That's because corporate trips and premium leisure travel are considered high-growth sectors for financial institutions. They increasingly want to sit at the top of the travel sales funnel. So what's changed?
Even though big U.S. banks raked in nearly $50 billion worth of profit in the first three months of this year, capitalizing on global volatility in the wake of war in the Middle East, this has not been an era of rich pickings, hence the deployment of capital into the travel sector.
Innovation from fintechs also has spurred traditional banks to think outside the box, where they've been forced to deliver greater value beyond payments. Rising interest rates also have dampened the mortgage market, while acquisitions in investment banking have been poor.
At the same time, accessing the technology, particularly travel tech, and capability in the business travel sector has become a lot easier and cheaper, particularly buying in capability or tie-ups. Let's not forget, big banks have deep pockets.
"Travel is a challenge, it's very difficult to do well. Building an offering from the ground up really isn't a viable option for card issuers. The easiest path, which is still very difficult, is acquisition," explained Tory Passons, head of TravelBank at U.S. Bank.
A Frothy Market
TravelBank was acquired by U.S. Bancorp nearly five years ago, with the idea of bringing travel management and commercial card offerings together, as well as expense management. Its focus has been on embedding card capabilities directly into the travel booking experience and keeping things simple.
Four years ago, travel management company Frosch was gobbled up by JPMorgan Chase, and then came the evolution of Chase Travel Corporate Solutions. "Frosch gave Chase a full-service TMC with real VIP capability, and it created a clear path to drive more travel spend back onto Chase cards," said Will Tate, partner at GoldSpring Consulting.
He continued: "The corporate volumes that now flow through Frosch also gives Chase leverage to negotiate better hotel content, pricing and supplier incentives that most companies wouldn't be able to get on their own."
Capital One over the last few years has had an on-off partnership with Hopper. It launched Capital One Business Travel in 2024 and recently decided to part ways from the travel tech firm, yet retain Hopper technology and up to 150 employees, through a payout.
Capital One now is making a push for a unified travel booking and payment experience. This is likely to be focused on leveraging Hopper's consumer tech for corporate travel and driving card spend.
Then there's Citi's tie-up with TMC Navan three years ago. Much like Capital One and to a degree Chase, the aim has been to use travel and expense to make commercial card use stickier. Partnering with Navan has allowed Citi to up its travel offering without risking its own operational expenditure.
"The customer gets a modern T&E system without having to buy one on their own, and Navan gets the added booking volume it needs to negotiate better rates and supplier incentives. At the same time, Citi strengthens its card relationships, and Navan grows its scale," said Tate.
American Express has gone in a different direction. Last year, it acquired expense management software provider Center, a move that has given Amex a fully integrated card and expense platform for the midmarket.
At the same time American Express Global Business Travel, the TMC part-owned by American Express, will go private once its acquisition by investment firm Long Lake is finalized. American Express has agreed to sell its stake in the TMC.
"Spinning off Amex GBT removes the long standing 'Amex owns a TMC' conflict and lets them focus on card, expense and data instead of agency operations," said Tate.
Banks also have been elevating their travel offering with exclusive lounge networks, taking American Express's lead with Centurion. Chase now has Sapphire, and there are Capital One Lounges. This allows them to go head-to-head with premium airline co-branded corporate cards.
The Value of the SME
While premium leisure has been a big focus for banks in previous years, the low-hanging fruit is the unmanaged corporate travel space, and that much-vaunted market segment that many TMCs would like more of—small to midsized enterprises.
An end-to-end book-pay-expense process is the holy grail. The goal is for banks to retain as much of the client's travel spend within their own ecosystem.
"Many travel suppliers are looking to own more of the value chain. Banks, with their existing commercial card relationships and capital to acquire capability, are a natural next entrant," said Chloe Carver, head of corporate travel consulting at Acquis Consulting Group.
"Layering a booking tool onto an existing corporate card relationship doesn't necessarily require a formal procurement process or dedicated travel management resources. There is an opening for banks because they can position travel as a beneficial add-on to existing card services."
The SME market is a natural landing spot for financial institutions for the same reason it remains elusive for the big players in managed travel. High volumes and low margins are the issue. There is little money to be made or value to be added on any single transaction, but this is just the kind of market that financial institutions are used to where throughput matters.
"Banks realize that there's a huge volume unmanaged travel with a vast amount of money being spent in this segment," said Shanta Paratian, senior manager at Edgar, Dunn & Co.
Data analysis and now AI within banks can show them where loyalty, spend patterns, emotional engagement and repeat purchasing behaviors lie. These can then be exploited by financial institutions to upsell travel product.
"The main upside for the banks is the more a customer uses their cards, the more interchange revenue the issuer earns. That spend is ultimately where the card business makes its money, and all these travel integrations are designed to drive more of it," Tate said.
Financial institutions are banking on the fact that small-business travelers are time-poor, they want easy bookings and they don't want fragmented tools or complexity. They also want simple workflows for payment and expenses. The talk of reducing friction for travelers is legion among bank executives.
As financial institutions build up sales volume within the travel space, this will not only fuel their data intelligence but also give them bigger clout with travel providers, whether for hotel, air or ground transportation content. "It means that TMCs and agencies will have to negotiate for access or risk losing visibility," said Tate.
Two areas where banks see fresh opportunities include bleisure, since much is purchased on personal cards. The big banks are already heavy hitters in leisure. For instance, JPMorgan Chase says that Chase Travel is the third-largest consumer leisure travel provider in the U.S., with $13 billion in sales for 2025, tripling since 2021. The other area of potential growth is virtual cards for travel purchases, but with tight controls.
A Threat for TMCs?
The big question is, should TMCs be worried? Are they coming for their lunch too? Don't hold your breath.
"Corporate travel is simply not a bank's core competency," said Tim Russo, vice president for partnerships at Navan. "It's an immensely complex industry that requires investment and resources on everything from travel supplier relationships and integrations to specialist support centers."
Travel content also needs to be curated from many sources, including global distribution systems and direct channels, while pricing is increasingly dynamic and traveler expectations keep rising. Could banks really orchestrate all of this? "I can't see it myself," said Jean-Michel Kadaner, partner at Areka Consulting.
Large managed programs require expertise beyond a simple booking tool. They are heavily driven by manpower. Then there's travel policy enforcement, duty-of-care infrastructure, preferred supplier negotiations, deep integrations with HR and finance systems, as well as ESG reporting.
"These are all now table stakes for enterprise buyers. For banks to compete seriously in this space, they'll need to demonstrate they can deliver that full operational infrastructure, provide a better user interface and experience, as well as build the kind of travel expertise that enterprise procurement teams will scrutinize closely," said Carver.
The Best Lenders of Cash
As banks' travel ecosystems evolve in the years ahead, expect intense competition, not only for the share of wallet but also potentially for ownership of the entire travel experience. There is one area that banks are better than the travel sector, and that's lending money.
"Banks could give businesses increasing lines of credit so they can pre-finance travel purchases, that way they don't have to use normal operational credit lines. Corporates can then preserve their cashflow for marketing, sales or research and development. This is certainly a banking USP, helping businesses spend better," said Kadaner.
Upcoming changes in fees could also affect how financial institutions approach travel. The long-running dispute between Visa, Mastercard and merchants is coming to an end. This relates to the collection of interchange fees, the charges merchants pay each time a business traveler swipes a credit card.
At the moment merchants have to honor the use of all bank cards and pay fees accordingly. With a new settlement in 2027 merchants could reject whole categories of cards, which could include corporate cards and rewards cards focused on travel.
"This would alter the dynamic. Travel used to be a great cash generator for the banking system, but with this change they could lose revenue," said Kadaner. "The moment they start losing revenue, banks might drop out of travel."