What is BSP? IATA's Billing and Settlement Plan explained

BSP, IATA's Billing and Settlement Plan, is the system accredited travel agents use to report airline ticket sales and pay airlines. IATA describes it as one sales report and one remittance per agent, and one consolidated settlement to airlines. In the US, ticket settlement runs through ARC, and IATA sends US agencies to IATAN.

Here is how BSP works, what it takes to join, and how it compares with ARC.

What is BSP?

The Billing and Settlement Plan is IATA's standard framework for sales reporting, remittance and settlement between airlines and travel agents. IATA's agent manual calls it a system designed to facilitate and simplify the selling, refunding, reporting and remitting procedures.

The scale is large. IATA lists 400+ participating airlines, 59,000+ accredited travel agents and $242B+ settled each year. In 2021, IATA counted 153 BSPs serving 181 countries and territories.

Instead of settling with dozens of airlines one by one, you deal with one system. BSP collects from you once and pays each airline.

How does BSP work?

1. You issue a ticket. Your BSP code identifies you as accredited and a member of the BSP.
2. Sales roll into a billing. Each reporting period produces a BSP billing. The frequency of billings and remittances is set by IATA's Passenger Agency Conference for each BSP, so it varies by market.
3. You check the billing. IATA says that as a best practice, all agents should review and reconcile the transactions in their billing analysis.
4. You remit by the remittance date. That is the date by which everything you owe for the period must be paid.
5. BSP settles the airlines. Airlines get one consolidated settlement.

Paying late is costly. A late or short payment is recorded in your risk history. If the full amount doesn't arrive by close of the following business day, it becomes a default, and your ticketing authority is restricted.

Four ways to pay for a BSP ticket

The BSP Manual for Agents (Edition 8, effective September 1, 2025) lists four payment methods. Which ones you can use depends on your accreditation type.

A billing period, worked through

Worked example (illustrative arithmetic, made-up figures). A GoStandard agent in a euro market has one billing period with three items:

• a cash ticket for €1,000, with €50 commission
• a customer card ticket for €800, with €40 commission
• an ADM from an airline for €75

The card fare never touches the agent: the airline collects it. But commissions processed through BSP are netted from the cash amount you owe, and ADMs land in the same billing. So the remittance is €1,000 − €50 − €40 + €75 = €985, due in the exact currency shown on the remittance notice.

A GoLite agent has no cash ticket sales to net commission against. The manual says its commissions are then paid out by IATA, while ADMs are still owed by the remittance date.

Timing details that trip people up. You can void a ticket only on the day it was issued, until midnight. If the remittance date falls on a bank holiday, it moves to the next business day. You can also pay early: an advance remittance reduces how much of your cash limit you're using.

What are BSPlink and IATA EasyPay?

BSPlink is the main interface for agents and airlines to access data on their BSP activity. It is a web platform for billing, reporting and communication with airlines.

IATA EasyPay is a pay-as-you-go e-wallet for issuing tickets through the BSP. You fund the account first. At ticketing, the system checks the funds and blocks the amount. IATA then settles the airlines daily, with money arriving 48 to 96 hours after issue.

EasyPay has no minimum balance and no fee to keep the account open, and unblocked funds can be withdrawn. The manual says it is accepted by over 100 airlines, so check the validating carrier first.

EasyPay matters most for GoLite agents. GoLite is for agents that ticket only with IATA EasyPay or the customer's card. GoStandard agents can use all BSP forms of payment: cash, credit card and IATA EasyPay.

What does it cost to join BSP?

You join BSP by getting IATA accreditation. IATA prices its models in Swiss francs. As of February 2025:

GoLite security, in full. IATA's accreditation page lists, for GoLite, no minimum financial guarantee required to issue air tickets. The BSP Manual for Agents adds a condition in §3.15. A GoLite agent must provide a minimal financial security of USD 5,000 if its overall ADM turnover through the BSP exceeds a defined quarterly threshold. An ADM (agency debit memo) is how an airline collects adjustments on tickets and refunds you issued.

A free IATA TIDS code identifies your agency to suppliers, but it can't issue BSP tickets.

How financial security works for cash agents

For GoStandard and the multi-country models, the manual says the security must be in place before accreditation and for at least the first two years. The amount follows the local financial criteria of your market, so it differs by country.

Security also sets your remittance holding capacity: a cap on cash sales you can hold before remitting. New cash agents sit in Risk Status C for 24 months, where that cap equals the security you provided. Hit the cap and cash ticketing is switched off until you remit, though EasyPay and customer card still work. In markets IATA lists as not yet having EasyPay, cash stays on.

Miss a security request and cash and card are restricted. You then have 60 days to comply or convert to GoLite before IATA issues a notice of termination.

How do you join BSP, step by step?

1. Apply online through the IATA Customer Portal, choosing GoLite, GoStandard, GoGlobal or the euro-zone model.
2. Sign two copies of the Passenger Sales Agency Agreement and pay the accreditation fees.
3. Provide financial security, if your model needs it, within 40 days.
4. Receive your IATA code and BSPlink access.
5. Ask each airline for ticketing authority. Accreditation alone doesn't let you ticket. Each airline assigns ticketing authority in BSPlink under its own commercial policy.

After that, IATA invoices the annual fee, which is due by November for the next calendar year, and asks you to revalidate your details once a year.

What are ADMs and ACMs in BSP?

An ADM arrives through BSPlink and, once its lifecycle ends, is included in your billing and paid on the remittance date. An ACM (agency credit memo) is the reverse: money the airline owes you, deducted from that period's billing.

How to dispute an ADM:

1. Within 15 days of issue, register a dispute in BSPlink with your reason and documents. The airline then has 60 days to accept or reject it.
2. If accepted, the ADM is deactivated. If rejected, or adjusted and rejected, it goes into the billing.
3. After billing, you can still raise a post-billing dispute for up to 12 months from the transaction. You pay the full billing anyway; IATA holds the disputed amount in escrow for 30 days.

Where ADMs come from. The manual names card chargebacks (on customer card sales the airline is the merchant, so its name appears on the statement), card types the airline doesn't accept, commission errors, and manual transactions. It says the most frequent errors relate to complicated fares, ticket exchanges and refunds. Airline ADM policies differ by airline and by market, and they're published in BSPlink.

US agencies handle the same kind of memo through ARC: see what is ARC.

Common BSP mistakes

1. Treating GoLite as "nothing to pay". GoLite agents still owe ADMs in cash and must log in to BSPlink at least once per billing period to check.
2. Missing the 15-day ADM window. After it, your only route is a post-billing dispute, and you pay first.
3. Changing banks without notice. Tell IATA at least 30 days before. A returned direct debit counts as a late or short payment.
4. Late financial statements. Cash agents who miss the deadline get a risk event and 30 more days. After that, cash and card can be restricted.
5. Unreported agency changes. Ownership, name or address changes must be reported before they happen, or IATA can record a non-compliance and charge a penalty fee.

BSP vs ARC: what's the difference?

Both do the same job: agents report sales, and the system pays the airlines. The difference is where they run. In the US, ticket settlement runs through ARC's Settlement Plan, and IATA sends US agencies to IATAN.

BSP is the world. ARC is the US.

Why BSP matters to travel advisors

In the US, ticket settlement runs through ARC. You need ARC to ticket, or you book under a host agency's numbers.

Outside the US, BSP is how you ticket in your own name. GoLite is the low-cost entry point, since IATA requires no minimum financial guarantee to issue tickets. The trade-off is that you ticket only with EasyPay or the customer's card.

Practical guidance: reconcile every billing before the remittance date. One missed payment can restrict your ticketing.

Related terms

• IATA codes explained
• What is ARC?
• How to sell flights without an IATA code
• What is a GDS?
• How to start a travel agency

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Tripdash Bookings lets you book flights, hotels, activities, rides and restaurants in one search, with no IATA code required. See how Tripdash works.

Sources

1. IATA. Billing and Settlement Plan (BSP), accessed October 21, 2026.
2. IATA. BSP Manual for Agents, NewGen ISS Edition 8, effective September 1, 2025.
3. IATA. IATA EasyPay, accessed October 21, 2026.
4. IATA. Travel agent accreditation, accessed October 21, 2026.
5. IATA. Boost your credibility with IATA accreditation, fees valid as of February 2025.
6. IATA. NewGen ISS press release, March 8, 2018.
7. IATA. Factsheet: Passenger Sales Agency Agreement (PSAA), October 2021.
8. IATA. TIDS.
9. ARC. Agent Reporting Agreement, effective September 15, 2026.
10. ARC. Become an ARC-accredited travel agency, 2020.
11. ARC Debit Memo Advisory Group. Best Practices for Effective Debit Memo Resolution and Prevention, 2023.