Best Travel Merchant Account & Payment Processing 2023 – PayFasto

Indeed, the bottlenecks surrounding the process of getting a merchant account for payment processing in the travel and hospitality industry could make it very difficult to understand. As the world fully reopens for travel after the ravaging COVID-19 pandemic, having reliable and trusted travel payment processing for your travel and tour services could not be more crucial. 

Statistics reveal that the travel and tourism industry generated nearly a whopping amount of $9.2 billion in 2019, with an overall market size of about $1,006.5 billion and projected to reach $1,737.3 billion by 2027. With the enormous and unprecedented impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, there are indications that the travel industry is recovering, and it is expected to grow exponentially in 2023. 

As a travel merchant, one of the bottlenecks you’ll have to deal with is the fact that your merchant accounts are often classified and regarded as high-risk, especially by banks and other payment processors. 

There’s no denying the fact that the travel industry is worth trillions of dollars, but about $25 billion is often bled out annually as a result of frequent chargebacks, frauds, and scams. Due to the dynamics of the travel industry, you would be exposed to a series of fraud and scam cases frequently. 

As a result, the best solution is to partner with the best high-risk credit card processor in the industry. And there’s no other company than PayFasto, as we understand the ins and outs of the travel industry. 

In this article, we’ll take an in-depth look at the travel merchant gateway, the types, the features, and everything you need to know. We’ll also explain why PayFasto would be your perfect partner for payment processing in the travel industry.  

Retail Payments

A retail merchant account for travel businesses provides the opportunity for businesses to accept in-person payments from credit cards. These payments could be made via a point of sale (POS) system or the traditional credit card terminal.

This type of travel merchant account is perfectly suited for retail businesses, especially those with dependable wired internet access. Besides, this type of travel merchant account has almost zero risks of chargeback and also receives the lowest pricing for merchant accounts. 

Mobile Payments 

A mobile payment account for travel merchants allows businesses to smoothly and seamlessly accept payments via a swiper. This is usually connected to a mobile device or an iPad. 

Interestingly, this type of travel merchant account is suitable for travel and tour service providers and other timeshares businesses that mostly deal with in-person sales outside the four walls of their traditional storefronts. As a bonus, travel merchant accounts usually offer lower risks of chargebacks and are also priced as retail. 

Virtual Terminal 

Alternatively referred to as the payment gateway merchant account, the virtual terminal account offers travel and tour companies to accept payments in multiple ways. These include over the phone, via emails, or even on a computer (without outdoor equipment). 

Virtual terminal payments for timeshare or travel services are usually integrated with major customer relationship management (CRM) platforms and other software. One of the reasons many travel businesses opt for a merchant account is the issue of fraud. So, virtual terminal payments offer protection against fraud and chargebacks. 

eCommerce Payments 

eCommerce travel, tours, and timeshare merchant accounts are most suitable for businesses that accept and process both credit and debit cards via the website’s payment checkout pages. While it is usually integrated with most shopping carts and content management systems (CMS), it is another excellent alternative to accept travel payments with reduced risk of fraud and chargebacks. However, the benefit of this type of travel merchant is enhanced with integrated chargeback protection software offered by PayFasto. 

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Check out some of the criteria that will help you select the best, most reliable, and most trustworthy high-risk merchant account provider for your travel business. 

Reviews and Reputation 

One common thing with many merchant accounts or payment gateway service providers is lots of captivating information on their websites. This is usually and deliberately done to capture the attention of as many target customers as possible. As a travel business, you shouldn’t fall for their gimmicks.

Do not judge a merchant account provider by what you read on their websites alone; dig further to check their reviews and feedback about their services from trusted platforms. Endeavor to check their reviews, and feedback about the quality of their services, how they can handle disputes, chargebacks, and fraud, and how fast and responsive their customer services are. Carefully evaluate all these before you finally conclude to partner with them. 

Merchant Account Rates 

One of the most important criteria that sets payment gateway service providers apart is the merchant account rates. The merchant account rates offer many service providers the opportunity to compete in the industry. This means you shouldn’t simply opt for a service provider because you think they have the best account processing rates.

Depending on factors such as the size and volume of your transactions, there are many other payment gateway service providers with better rates. When choosing a merchant account provider to partner with for your travel business, seek the ones that charge the basic rates as charged by major credit card processing companies. Those ones usually have the lowest fees per transaction. 

Customer Service and Support 

As a travel merchant, your business isn’t confined to the regular 9-5 business hour model. Therefore, you must partner with a credit card processing company that offers 24-7 customer service and support.

Also, ensure that the merchant account you’re partnering with has multiple means of accessibility, especially via chats, phone, and email. If you partner with a less accessible merchant service provider, it will affect your business in the long term as you would require customer support at all times – round the clock. 

Agreement Contracts 

Prior to partnering with any merchant account provider, remember that a contract agreement is important. Not only that, but you should study the contract in detail to ensure you’re comfortable with all the laid down terms and clauses. Also, make sure there are clauses for early termination and cancellation fees. This will help you be on the safer side if you want to opt out of the contract in the future. 

Compatibility With Hardware Models

For your travel business, you would require more than one merchant account for your credit and debit cards and transactions. A Point of Sale (POS) cash register or credit card reader is another alternative to receiving payments for your business. Therefore, ensure that you choose a merchant account provider with hardware models that are compatible with your business. Remember, anything less than a compatible hardware model may mean that your transactions will be declined. 

PayFasto is a renowned and leading credit card processing provider that offers travel agencies with travel merchant accounts unique and useful features to protect the bottom line of their businesses. At PayFasto, our travel merchant account includes tested and trusted fraud prevention and protection, multi-bank and offshore processing, chargeback alerts, dispute support, as well as ACH/e-check processing. Let’s take a look at some of the benefits we offer to all our clients in the travel industry. 

Tested and Trusted Fraud Protection and Prevention Tool

With our tested and trusted fraud protection and prevention tool at PayFasto, our travel merchant account holders will be instantly notified of any suspected cases of fraud or scams. These tools and software are directly integrated into our payment gateway, and it carries out the sole duty of analyzing different data points on every transaction. With advanced and high-level tools such as proxy detection, machine learning models, behavioral analytics, and elastic order linking, our high-risk merchant account can promptly identify and spot fraud as its happening. 

Whenever there’s any fraud detection, you will be instantly alerted. Our instant alert for suspicious transactions covers stolen identities or cards, fraudulent cards, and more. As we install our payment gateway, you will be granted permission to use the fraud filter to configure the system using criteria that meet and exceed your business’s unique needs.

In addition, you can also configure the payment system to decline suspicious transactions automatically or suspend transactions until an investigation is carried out and concluded. 

Multi-Bank and Offshore Processing 

All the high-risk credit card providers we offer at PayFasto offer unlimited access to multi-bank and offshore processing services. We will ensure that all travel merchant accounts are set up with at least four banking options. With this, you can seamlessly disperse payments across different bank accounts, ultimately reducing your risk of over-exposure, chargebacks, and return ratio. 

If chargebacks in large amounts occur on one bank account, it may lead to the freezing or permanent closure of the account. Once this occurs, you will have other bank accounts to fall back on, allowing you to continue payment processing from both credit and debit cards, ACH, and e-checks. 

High-risk merchant accounts may sometimes require access to offshore banking solutions. For instance, non-US banks are subjected to fewer trading restrictions and less stringent underwiring and approval policies. If, as a merchant, you experience a particularly high rate of chargebacks or you have zero credit card processing history, getting a merchant account with offshore payment processing can be a game-changer for your travel business. 

ACH/E-Check Processing 

ACH/E-check payment processing can be a game-changer for travel business owners. Usually, customers using travel services would always want to ensure that they have a low credit balance, which will allow them to cater to expenses and emergencies during the course of their trips and tours, thus their preference for travels with the funds they already have. When you have a merchant account that accepts ACH and e-check payments, you will be able to cater to the needs of these kinds of target customers in the travel industry. 

Chargeback Protection and Dispute Resolution

There’s no gainsaying that the travel industry experiences a relatively high rate of chargebacks due to high rates of contingency payments. It’s equally not uncommon for travelers to book their tickets and have their plans change suddenly before the trip. Unfortunately, travel merchants do not provide customers with refund options on travel deposits and provide insufficient information to customers on refund policies, thus leading to chargebacks. 

With a high-risk merchant account from PayFastoPAyments, you do not need to worry about chargebacks, as you will get an instant notification once a chargeback is initiated. In addition, our travel merchants are also offered advice and support in a bid to help them cut down the rate of chargebacks. In fact, we are also involved in helping our travel merchants through disputes to reduce the negative effects on their businesses.