“Can a state-owned flag carrier turn its loyalty program into a financial-services distribution channel without owning a bank?”
TAP Air Portugal is Portugal's state-owned flag carrier focused on Atlantic connectivity (Europe-Brazil-Africa-North America) via its Lisbon hub. Beyond air transport, TAP has built a meaningful embedded-finance footprint: a registered credit intermediary in Portugal partnering with Millennium BCP and UNICRE to issue TAP-branded credit cards, a co-branded Amex card with Cardless in the US, BNPL via Klarna, Revolut Pay integration, and Chubb-underwritten travel insurance at checkout. The strategy is loyalty-led — every embedded financial product feeds Miles&Go.
TAP Air Portugal processes payments through Klarna and Revolut Pay.
TAP Air Portugal's cards are issued through Cardless.
TAP Air Portugal's lending and capital products are provided by Klarna.
The Embedded Finance Index 2026 maps 3 layers in TAP Air Portugal's stack: Payments / PSP (Klarna and Revolut Pay); Card issuing (Cardless); Lending (Klarna, Klarna Buy Now, Pay Later (flight purchases) and TAP Credit Cards revolving credit (via Millennium BCP / UNICRE)).
TAP Air Portugal is founded in 1945 and headquartered in Lisbon, Portugal.
Get a read on where your own stack stands against TAP Air Portugal and the rest of its category — what they built versus bought, which providers they use, and where the gaps in your own strategy and competitive set actually are.