December 23rd, 2019 | Updated on March 5th, 2020
Credit card processors have classified the travel industry as one of the high-risk business ventures that are in existence.
The reason for this is that the orders made by travel agencies are finalized before the day that a client travels. As such, the client may opt at any time to cancel the travel plan altogether.
The early payments made give merchants the provision to accept charge-backs on travel agent merchant accounts owing to unforeseen changes of travel plans by clients as well as payment disputes that may come up.
The Purpose Of A Travel Merchant Account
A travel merchant account partner serves the purpose of helping a travel business to receive payments on the services they offer to their clients via a high-risk merchant account. Processing payments using a high-risk merchant account is essential to the success of the business.
Some of the services offered by the account include debit, credit, and gift card processing, stored value card processing, and Automated Clearing House (ACH) payment processing.
Travel businesses are able to accept credit cards in person, via phone or online with the help of a merchant account. Clients can pay a deposit online and then clear the balance in person before embarking on their trip.
Irrespective of the method of payment that you choose, using a merchant account as a travel business boils down to getting a credit card processor that actually works for your business model.
That being said, here are some of the things to take into account to help you find the best merchant account partner for a travel business:
1. Multiple Payment Choices Available
Services offered by payment gateways vary depending on location. If you plan to expand your travel business to international levels, you can opt for a payment gateway that allows you to receive payments in different currencies.
In order to excel in different countries as a travel business, you’ll need to provide people with payment methods that they are well acquainted with. This will make them trust you easily.
The merchant account partner you choose should be able to offer multiple payment choices that work well in different states and are able to process the payments fast and easy.
This account partner should also be able to integrate CRM in order to set up recurring payments when the client is on the phone.
Additionally, they should also provide the travel business with call center virtual terminals, traditional credit card terminal for physical computers, and website payment integration. All this boils down to which payment choice is ideal for the travel business.
2. Multi-Currency Processing
A travel business most likely targets not only local clients but international ones as well. In order to maximize international sales, you need to provide your customers with friendly user experience on the checkout pages of your website.
A client is more likely to complete an order or booking a trip if he or she is provided with a payment method that they are familiar with, in the language they understand, and in the currency that they prefer.
As such, it is important that a travel business partners with a merchant account that is able to offer the above-mentioned features.
Multi-currency payment processing allows travel businesses to accept credit cards from clients in different foreign states. It involves setting up different billing currencies such as USD, GBP, EUR, AUD, ZAR, NZD, and CAD.
Multi-currency processing has massive cost advantages. A travel business can save thousands of dollars with regard to processing costs.
There is a need then to partner with a merchant account that is able to provide your travel business with multi-currency payment processing.
This will allow the business to receive payments from anywhere in the world regardless of the currency that your clients use.
3. Ability To Setup Several Travel Merchant Accounts
Having several merchant accounts that cater to the different target markets that the travel business has ventured into will boost the payment processing capacity. All these accounts should be in one single gateway that allows for efficiency in management.
4. Ability To Handle High Payment Volumes
If your travel business attracts a huge client base, there is a dire need to get a merchant account partner that provides you with enough payment processing power to be able to manage huge payment volumes with no restrictions whatsoever.
5. High-Level Security
It’s important that you partner with a merchant account that provides you with military-grade encryption that allows for safe data transmission for both your travel business and your clients.
Conclusion
That being said, here is our recommendation for the best travel merchants to partner with.
