Travel and Entertainment Solutions

Central Travel Account Solutions

Commercial Features
The Central Travel Account (CTA) is a component of the MasterCard Business Travel Solutions* and is “lodged” or housed at a travel agency to pay for travel costs for multiple individuals within an organization. It enables the travel agent to directly bill the organization’s CTA account number for travel-related expenditures by either

  • Passing through card information to the airline to submit the transaction through its acquirer, or
  • Charging the organization for fees incurred or “net fares” where in both cases the travel agent is the merchant

Functionality

CTAs are reconciled through functionality that matches available enhanced travel data with the financial data

  • MasterCard receives enhanced data from all major travel reservation Global Distribution Systems and several Travel Management Companies
  • MasterCard then matches that data or passes it to the Financial Institution for matching with the financial transactions


Enhanced data can be provided to the Financial Institution for Management Information Systems (MIS) applications, issuer invoicing, or other reporting and be viewed by customers via the MasterCard proprietary reporting tool—Smart Data OnLineTM (SDOL)

The MasterCard CTA offers payment solutions for Travel Agencies to pay for Airline Tickets and Hotel/Conference transactions. Different payment processes, procedures, and regulations may require the separation of these two types of transaction(s).

Central Travel Air Accounts (CTAA)

The Central Travel Account has three versions to fit the sophistication and requirements of the corporate program.

“START” provides a simple program for entry-level participants requiring a basic program. “PRIME” and “PRIME PLUS” increase in sophistication to meet the corporate needs of larger corporations and multinationals.

Benefits
Irrespective of the program selected, the CTA program provides benefits that are specifically designed to meet the needs of multiple travelers using the account that usually resides in the travel agency, sometimes with a signature on file. Program registration by the bank with MasterCard is necessary, and no plastic card is required as the program is primarily run on a virtual account.

The key Travel Insurance Coverage for the CTAA includes Accidental D&D—up to USD 250,000 per traveler; Lost Luggage—up to USD 1,200 per traveler; European Union Shengen Insurance equirements, and MasterCard Global Service and is also available for the CTAH.

For more information, contact one of our issuer banks. Program registration is required.

The MasterCard Advantage

There are several key features that make the MasterCard CTA the best breed in its class.

Key features of MasterCard CTA