Banks move into the heart of hotel distribution

Why wallets and payments are becoming as important as search and OTAs for hotels

Banks are emerging as powerful new intermediaries in travel distribution by controlling the transaction layer through digital wallets and banking apps.

Instead of competing on price or search visibility, banks integrate payments, booking technology, and AI-driven risk management into closed ecosystems that sit closer to the guest than most hotel channels.

For hotels, this shift means bookings may increasingly originate from bank-owned travel platforms rather than OTAs, metasearch, or direct websites.

As wallets become the primary interface for travel purchases, hotels must understand how these platforms influence demand, loyalty, and distribution costs.

Key takeaways

• The transaction layer is shifting upstream: Banks are no longer just processing payments; they are becoming booking platforms that control how and where hotel rooms are sold.
• Wallets challenge traditional hotel channels: Bank travel portals can bypass hotel websites, OTAs, and even metasearch by embedding bookings directly inside banking apps.
• Payments and loyalty are merging: Bank reward points and card benefits create closed loyalty loops that steer guests to book hotels through bank-owned platforms.
• AI favors trusted, bookable inventory: Bank platforms offer clean, financially protected inventory that AI travel tools can transact with more reliably than open web content.
• Distribution power follows financial risk: By holding the payment, liability, and customer data, banks gain leverage that traditional intermediaries do not have.
• Google remains influential but incomplete: While Google dominates discovery, banks outperform it at owning the payment and loyalty relationship with travelers.
• Hotel visibility may fragment further: Hotels may need to manage bank travel portals as an additional distribution channel alongside OTAs and GDS.
• Strategic awareness is critical: Hotels that understand how wallet-driven bookings work can better evaluate costs, margins, and long-term dependence on emerging bank platforms.

Source: Travhotech

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