BA to trial mobile payment for excess baggage

British Airways is set to be the first airline in the UK to trial paying for excess baggage via mobile.

The trial, at Gatwick, will use an iPhone iSMP product provided by Ingenico, and BA is one of the first airlines to use this new technology.

It is being tested at Gatwick first, to reduce the time it takes for customers to move from the self-service kiosk to the drop bag desk, following the launch of self-bag tagging.

While customers can check-in and self-bag tag, they still have to go to a desk to make payments for excess baggage and upgrades, causing queues.

This mobile device contains a selling platform and can take customer payments through a card swipe or chip and pin, meaning BA can accept debit cards, such as MasterCard Debit and Maestro/Switch, which previously had to be declined because of IT restrictions.