Merchant Accounts for Travel Agents

Quick summary

Travel businesses can be more difficult to place with payment providers because customers often pay well before the service is delivered, transaction values can be higher and refunds or cancellations may create additional financial exposure.

• Not every travel business has the same payment profile. Travel agents, tour operators, accommodation providers, booking platforms and aviation businesses can require very different payment setups.
• Provider appetite matters. Some acquirers and payment providers have specific criteria for travel businesses and may assess the timing between payment and fulfilment closely.
• Expect additional underwriting. Providers may review trading history, financial information, cancellation and refund policies, processing history and how far in advance customers pay.
• Reserves or other risk controls may apply. These can vary depending on the business model and provider assessment.
• The wider payment setup matters too. Travel businesses may also need international acquiring, multiple currencies, payment gateways, recurring payments or specialist integrations.

Merchant Advice Service is an independent UK payments information, comparison and provider-matching service with experience helping travel businesses assess specialist payment requirements. MAS looks at the structure of the business and its payment requirements rather than treating every travel merchant in the same way.

Travel Merchant Accounts and Payment Processing

Travel businesses often need more from their payment setup than a standard merchant account can provide.

Customers may pay months before they travel, bookings can involve several suppliers and a cancellation can create a large number of refunds at once. Travel merchants may also need to accept international cards, multiple currencies, deposits, balance payments and bookings made online or over the telephone.

These characteristics can make travel more difficult for acquiring banks to underwrite.

A suitable travel payment arrangement may involve:

• A specialist travel merchant account

• An acquiring bank that understands delayed fulfilment

• A payment gateway connected to the booking platform

• Smart routing between more than one provider

• Carefully controlled retry functionality

• Fraud prevention and booking protection

• Deposits and scheduled balance payments

• Multi-currency processing

• Clear reporting and reconciliation

• Settlement and reserve terms suited to the business model

This guide explains how travel merchant accounts work, what providers examine during underwriting and how travel companies can build a more stable payment setup.

Find Your New Processor

Looking for a travel merchant account or payment gateway?

Merchant Advice Service helps travel businesses understand which acquiring banks, payment providers and gateways may be suitable for their particular requirements.

This may include businesses that:

• Have been declined by a mainstream provider

• Have received notice that an account will be closed

• Need to improve payment authorisation rates

• Want to connect more than one acquirer

• Need payment processing integrated with a booking system

• Accept deposits followed by balance payments

• Take bookings online and over the telephone

• Require international acquiring or multiple currencies

• Need help managing reserves, settlement and cash flow

• Want clearer reporting across several payment providers

MAS does not approve merchant accounts or guarantee that an application will be accepted. The final decision, pricing and account terms are set by the acquiring bank or payment provider following its own underwriting.

Quick answer: What is a travel merchant account?

A travel merchant account is a card-processing facility underwritten for a travel agency, tour operator, booking platform or another travel-related business.

It allows the company to receive card-payment settlements from customer bookings.

Travel agencies and tour operators are commonly associated with merchant category code 4722, although airlines, accommodation providers, passenger transport businesses and other travel merchants can be assigned different codes.

The provider should understand:

• What type of travel is being sold

• Whether the business acts as principal, organiser or agent

• How far in advance customers pay

• Which party is responsible for delivering the booking

• How customer funds are protected

• When suppliers are paid

• What happens when a booking is cancelled

• Which countries and currencies are involved

• How refunds and chargebacks are managed

A general ecommerce account may not be suitable where the provider has not knowingly agreed to support the travel business model.

Find Your New Processor

Why is travel payment processing considered high risk?

Travel is commonly classified as higher risk because there can be a long period between the customer making payment and receiving the service.

This creates future-delivery exposure for the acquiring bank.

When a customer pays £5,000 for a holiday taking place six months later, the provider may remain financially exposed throughout that period. If the travel business fails or cannot deliver the booking, customers may seek refunds or dispute their card payments.

Other risk factors can include:

• High average transaction values

• Seasonal peaks in booking volumes

• International card payments

• Supplier failure

• Flight or accommodation cancellations

• Political events and natural disasters

• Customer disputes

• Complex package arrangements

• Deposits taken long before departure

• Balance payments collected automatically

• Refund obligations

• Dependence on third-party suppliers

Travel and hospitality also tend to experience relatively high-value chargebacks. Mastercard research published in 2025 identified travel and hospitality as having the highest average chargeback value among the sectors it examined.

Being categorised as high risk does not mean that the travel company is unstable or badly run. It means the provider needs to understand and manage a larger potential financial liability.

Which travel businesses may need specialist processing?

Specialist payment processing may be required by:

• High-street and online travel agents

• Tour operators

• Online travel agencies

• Flight-booking businesses

• Package-holiday organisers

• Villa and holiday-let booking platforms

• Cruise specialists

• Ski and activity-holiday businesses

• School and educational trip providers

• Sports-tour operators

• Wedding and honeymoon travel specialists

• Luxury and private travel companies

• Private jet and aviation-booking businesses

• Coach-tour operators

• Business travel companies

• Destination-management companies

• Travel marketplaces

• Membership-based travel clubs

A provider that accepts one type of travel business will not necessarily accept them all.

For example, an acquirer may support a UK travel agent selling holidays under an established principal’s ATOL but decline:

• A new tour operator acting as principal

• A business selling flight-inclusive packages under its own name

• A merchant targeting unsupported countries

• A marketplace receiving money on behalf of multiple suppliers

• A travel club using an unclear membership model

• A business with unusually long delivery periods

• An operator without suitable insolvency protection

The exact business and payment structure matter more than the word “travel” alone.

How does travel payment processing work?

A typical online card payment involves:

1. The customer entering their card details

2. The payment gateway securely transmitting the transaction

3. The acquiring bank passing the authorisation request through the card network

4. The customer’s issuing bank approving or declining the payment

5. The authorised payment being captured

6. The funds being settled to the travel merchant under the agreed terms

Travel payment arrangements can become more complicated where:

• A deposit is taken initially

• The balance is collected several months later

• Part of the money belongs to a supplier

• The booking contains protected and unprotected elements

• Different currencies are involved

• The merchant acts as agent rather than principal

• The payment must be reconciled against several booking references

• Refunds need to be divided between suppliers

• Several acquirers or payment methods are being used

The merchant account, gateway and booking system must therefore be designed to work together.

Find Your New Processor

What is the difference between a merchant account and payment gateway?

The merchant account is the acquiring facility through which card payments are processed and settled.

The payment gateway provides the technical connection between the travel company’s website, booking platform and acquiring bank.

The gateway may also provide:

• Payment links

• Virtual-terminal payments

• Tokenised card storage

• Deposit and balance collection

• Payment routing

• Fraud screening

• 3D Secure

• Multi-currency checkout

• Reporting

• Refund management

• Connections to several acquiring banks

A travel company may have one gateway connected to several acquiring relationships.

This can reduce the amount of development work needed when an acquirer is added or replaced, provided the gateway supports the required connections.

Do travel businesses need ATOL protection?

A business selling flight-inclusive packages or certain flight-only arrangements to UK consumers may need to hold an ATOL, act as an agent of an ATOL holder or fall within a recognised exemption.

The ATOL requirements can also apply to companies established outside the UK where they advertise and sell relevant arrangements to consumers in the UK.

An ATOL is not a payment-processing licence, and a merchant account does not replace ATOL protection.

During underwriting, a payment provider may ask:

• Does the business hold its own ATOL?

• Is it an agent of another ATOL holder?

• Is it a member of an accredited body?

• Which company is named on the ATOL?

• Do the website and booking terms match the licensed structure?

• Which bookings are ATOL protected?

• How are unprotected elements described?

• Is the business acting as principal or agent?

• When are ATOL certificates issued?

Where a customer makes the first payment for an ATOL-protected flight or trip, the ATOL certificate must be issued immediately. Taking the customer’s card details can count as taking payment for this purpose, even where the transaction has not yet been processed.

Travel businesses should obtain specialist advice where they are unsure whether an ATOL is required.

Package Travel Regulations and merchant accounts

The Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations establish consumer-protection obligations for businesses arranging relevant combinations of travel services.

The rules can affect:

• Information provided before booking

• Responsibility for delivering the package

• Changes and cancellations

• Refunds

• Insolvency protection

• The distinction between an organiser and retailer

• Linked travel arrangements

The 2018 regulations remain the current framework for bookings made during 2026. Official government guidance explains how they apply to organisers and travel businesses.

Amendment regulations were signed into law in April 2026 but do not take effect until 6 April 2027. Among other changes, they will alter the treatment of linked travel arrangements and create a 14-day refund obligation where a third-party supplier cancels a travel service forming part of a package.

Payment providers may consider how the travel company meets its refund and insolvency-protection obligations when assessing the account.

This article provides payments information rather than legal advice. Travel businesses should confirm how the regulations apply to their own booking model.

Find Your New Processor

What information do travel payment providers require?

Travel merchant account applications normally require more information than an ordinary retail application.

Company information

The provider may request:

• Certificate of incorporation

• Ownership structure

• Director and shareholder information

• Trading and registered addresses

• Business bank statements

• Management accounts

• Financial forecasts

• Evidence of capital or funding

• Group-company information

Travel and regulatory information

This may include:

• ATOL details

• ABTA or other trade memberships

• Agency agreements

• Insolvency-protection arrangements

• Insurance details

• Package Travel Regulation compliance

• Supplier agreements

• Legal opinions where the structure is unusual

Website and booking information

Providers may review:

• Booking terms and conditions

• Cancellation policy

• Refund policy

• Privacy notice

• Customer contact information

• ATOL wording

• Financial-protection information

• Complaints procedure

• Delivery and departure periods

• Details of the merchant of record

• The full customer-booking journey

Processing information

The application may need to explain:

• Expected annual and monthly card turnover

• Seasonal booking peaks

• Average and maximum transaction value

• The average period between payment and travel

• Deposit and balance-payment arrangements

• Cardholder countries

• Booking destinations

• Accepted currencies

• Online and telephone-payment volumes

• Refund history

• Chargeback history

• Existing processing arrangements

• Previous account closures or restrictions

Supplier and cash-flow information

Providers may also examine:

• When airlines, hotels and other suppliers are paid

• Whether supplier payments are refundable

• How much customer money is held at any time

• How cancelled bookings are refunded

• Whether funds are ring-fenced or protected

• What happens if a supplier fails

• How the company would fund a large refund event

A clear application should show how money moves from the customer through the travel business and onwards to the supplier.

Merchant Advice Service view

For travel businesses, provider selection should begin with the structure of the business rather than the word “travel” alone.

A holiday-let operator, travel agent, tour operator, booking platform and private aviation business can have very different payment profiles. Merchant Advice Service looks at factors such as what is being sold, when the customer pays, when the service is delivered, average transaction values, refund and cancellation policies, customer locations and processing history.

The more accurately the business model is presented at the start, the easier it is to identify providers whose appetite is genuinely relevant.

MAS insight: Why travel applications are declined

Travel applications are rarely assessed using the merchant category alone.

Two companies selling similar holidays can receive different decisions because their financial exposure and operating models are different.

Merchant Advice Service commonly sees problems where:

• The merchant applies to a provider that does not accept future-delivery travel

• The ATOL holder and merchant-account applicant do not match

• The role of the principal and agent is unclear

• The website does not explain who is responsible for the booking

• The company cannot evidence insolvency protection

• Projected transaction values are inconsistent with its financial position

• The delivery period is longer than the provider permits

• Previous chargebacks or termination have not been disclosed

• The business takes customer money before suppliers confirm availability

• Deposits and balance payments have not been correctly structured

• The provider does not support the customer countries or destinations

• The business needs a marketplace or payment-facilitation model rather than a standard merchant account

• The company cannot demonstrate how a large cancellation event would be funded

Finding an acquirer that accepts “travel” is not enough.

The provider must accept the precise combination of:

• Travel activity

• Merchant role

• Financial protection

• Delivery period

• Customer location

• Transaction value

• Supplier exposure

• Processing history

Preparing this information before an application is submitted can reduce unnecessary declines.

Find Your New Processor

Improving payment authorisation rates for travel bookings

A declined card payment does not necessarily mean the customer has insufficient funds or is attempting fraud.

Travel bookings can be declined because:

• The transaction is unusually large

• The card is being used from another country

• The issuer considers the purchase unusual

• The customer’s information is incomplete

• Strong customer authentication is required

• The acquiring route performs poorly for that card or market

• A technical or network problem occurs

• The issuer does not recognise the travel merchant

• The payment is being collected without the customer present

Travel businesses should monitor authorisation rates by:

• Acquiring bank

• Card issuer

• Card type

• Customer country

• Currency

• Transaction value

• Booking channel

• Decline reason

• Gateway

• 3D Secure outcome

Looking only at one overall approval percentage can hide where payments are being lost.

Smart payment routing

Smart routing allows a payment to be sent to the acquiring route most likely to process it successfully.

Routing decisions may consider:

• Card country

• Transaction currency

• Booking value

• Card type

• Acquirer availability

• Historic authorisation performance

• Cost

• Fraud score

• Regulatory requirements

For example, a UK-issued card paying in pounds may perform better through a different route from a European-issued card paying in euros.

Routing should follow transparent rules and the terms agreed with each acquirer. It should not be used to conceal activity or bypass a provider’s restrictions.

Automatic retries

Some declined payments can be retried, but not every decline should be submitted again.

A retry may be appropriate following:

• A temporary processing error

• An unavailable issuer

• Certain soft declines

• A recoverable authentication issue

• A temporary insufficient-funds response where the customer has authorised a later collection

A retry is unlikely to work where:

• The card has been reported lost or stolen

• The issuer has instructed the merchant not to retry

• The card details are invalid

• The transaction is not permitted

• The customer has withdrawn authority

• Authentication has not been completed

Payment systems should use the decline and network-advice codes returned with the transaction. Excessive retries can look like fraudulent behaviour and may cause further legitimate transactions to be declined. Payment networks and processors limit how and when a declined transaction can be reattempted.

The aim is intelligent recovery of appropriate declines, not repeatedly forcing the same transaction through the network.

Bringing multiple payment providers into one gateway

A travel business may use more than one acquirer to support:

• Different currencies

• Different customer regions

• Higher payment volumes

• Local acquiring

• Specialist travel requirements

• Operational resilience

• Improved authorisation performance

Connecting every provider separately can create technical and reporting problems.

A single gateway or payment-orchestration layer may allow the business to manage several providers through one integration.

Potential benefits include:

• Centralised routing rules

• Consistent tokenisation

• One checkout experience

• Easier provider changes

• Consolidated reporting

• Failover during an outage

• More control over currency and geography

• Less repeated development work

However, using more providers also creates additional commercial and operational considerations.

Travel companies should confirm:

• Who stores the payment token

• Whether tokens can be moved between providers

• Which provider is the merchant of record

• Who handles 3D Secure

• How refunds are routed

• Whether reporting is truly consolidated

• How disputes are managed

• What happens when one acquirer is unavailable

• Whether every provider has approved the complete travel model

Multiple acquiring routes should not be used to hide chargebacks, divide problematic volume or continue processing after a legitimate termination.

Fraud prevention and booking protection

Travel fraud can affect both the customer and the travel company.

Common risks can include:

• Stolen-card bookings

• Account takeover

• Fraudulent amendments

• Last-minute high-value travel

• Bookings made for another passenger

• Mismatched customer and passenger details

• Loyalty-point fraud

• Friendly fraud

• False claims that travel was not provided

• Supplier or accommodation fraud

A suitable fraud strategy may use:

• 3D Secure

• Device information

• Address and security-code checks

• Cardholder and passenger matching

• Velocity controls

• Email and telephone verification

• Booking-history checks

• IP and location analysis

• Manual review for unusual bookings

• Supplier verification

• Chargeback alerts

• Clear evidence retention

Fraud controls should reflect the booking risk.

A rigid rule that blocks every booking where the passenger and cardholder differ may reject legitimate family or corporate travel. Equally, automatically accepting every high-value last-minute booking can create unnecessary exposure.

What does booking protection mean?

“Booking protection” can refer to several different services, including:

• Fraud screening

• Chargeback-management tools

• Supplier-failure protection

• Insurance-backed protection

• Cancellation cover

• Insolvency protection

• Customer travel insurance

These services are not interchangeable.

A fraud tool does not replace ATOL protection, and travel insurance does not remove the merchant’s refund obligations.

Travel businesses should establish exactly:

• What event is protected

• Who is insured or protected

• What exclusions apply

• Whether protection covers the merchant or customer

• How a claim is made

• Whether refunds or chargebacks are covered

• What happens if a supplier fails

The payment provider, insurer and travel company may each be responsible for different parts of the booking.

Find Your New Processor

Better reporting and easier reconciliation

Travel-payment reconciliation can be difficult because one booking may include:

• An initial deposit

• One or more balance payments

• Supplier payments

• Amendments

• Partial refunds

• Foreign-exchange adjustments

• Booking fees

• Chargebacks

• Insurance or protection products

• Payments processed by different providers

The payment reference should link clearly to the booking reference.

Useful reporting should allow the business to see:

• The original booking value

• Each customer payment

• The acquiring provider used

• The settlement received

• Provider fees

• Currency-conversion costs

• Refunds

• Chargebacks

• Reserve deductions

• Supplier payments

• Outstanding balances

Where several providers are used, consolidated reporting can reduce manual work. However, the travel business should still be able to trace each individual payment back to the acquirer and transaction record.

Good reconciliation is not merely an accounting benefit. It also helps with:

• Customer complaints

• Chargeback evidence

• Refund calculations

• ATOL records

• Supplier disputes

• Cash-flow forecasting

• Identifying missing settlements

The CAA requires travel agents affected by an ATOL-holder failure to produce detailed booking and payment records, including evidence of customer receipts and payments passed to the ATOL holder.

Improving travel-business cash flow

Travel companies can collect substantial customer funds while also facing large supplier commitments and future refund exposure.

A travel-specific payment review may consider:

Settlement times

Providers may offer:

• Daily settlement

• Weekly settlement

• Deferred settlement

• Settlement after a risk-hold period

• Different settlement arrangements by currency

Faster settlement can improve available cash, but it may be accompanied by:

• A rolling reserve

• Higher fees

• A security deposit

• Volume restrictions

• Closer monitoring

Rolling reserves

A rolling reserve is a percentage of settlements held for an agreed period to cover future refunds, chargebacks or business failure.

Travel merchants should confirm:

• The percentage retained

• How long each amount is held

• Whether there is a fixed reserve cap

• When funds are released

• Whether the reserve can be increased

• What happens if the account closes

• Whether seasonal peaks affect the calculation

A lower processing rate may not represent better value where a large reserve restricts working capital.

Deposit and balance payments

Taking a deposit followed by a later balance can reduce the customer’s initial payment, but it must be structured correctly.

The company should consider:

• When the balance becomes due

• How the customer authorises later payments

• Whether the card credential is stored securely

• What happens if the balance payment fails

• Whether a new authentication is required

• How cancellations affect each payment

• Whether the supplier has already been paid

Alternative payment methods

Depending on the business and customer, options may include:

• Open-banking payments

• Bank transfers

• Payment links

• Virtual terminals

• Instalment arrangements

• Business or lodge cards

• Virtual cards for supplier payments

• Multi-currency accounts

Each method has different implications for cost, customer protection, refunds, reconciliation and fraud.

Alternative payment methods should complement the card strategy rather than being selected purely to avoid chargeback exposure.

What is a rolling reserve for a travel merchant account?

A rolling reserve is money retained temporarily from the merchant’s card settlements.

For example, an acquirer may hold an agreed percentage of each settlement for several months and then release it on a rolling basis.

The provider may base its reserve requirement on:

• Advance-booking periods

• Annual card turnover

• Average transaction value

• Refund history

• Chargeback performance

• Financial strength

• Supplier-payment terms

• Seasonality

• Customer-fund protection

• Previous processing history

Some providers may instead request:

• An upfront security deposit

• A bank guarantee

• Deferred settlement

• A fixed reserve

• A combination of protections

Travel businesses should model the effect on working capital before accepting the account.

How much does travel payment processing cost?

There is no standard price applying to all travel businesses.

Costs can be affected by:

• Card turnover

• Average booking value

• Consumer and commercial card mix

• Customer countries

• Settlement currencies

• Online and telephone-payment volumes

• Chargeback performance

• Advance-delivery periods

• Reserve requirements

• Number of acquiring routes

• Gateway requirements

• Fraud tools

• Reporting

• Provider risk appetite

Charges may include:

• Acquiring margin

• Interchange

• Card-scheme fees

• Gateway fees

• Authorisation charges

• Refund fees

• Chargeback fees

• Currency-conversion costs

• Monthly minimums

• Payment-link or virtual-terminal fees

• Fraud-screening charges

• Orchestration fees

• Setup and integration fees

Where the merchant, its acquirer and the card issuer are all located in the UK, regulated consumer-card interchange is generally capped at 0.2% for debit cards and 0.3% for credit cards. These caps do not represent the merchant’s full payment-processing cost.

Compare the total commercial arrangement rather than one headline transaction rate.

How to compare travel payment providers

Before entering an agreement, ask:

1. Does the provider knowingly support our exact type of travel?

2. Does it understand whether we act as agent or principal?

3. Which customer countries are permitted?

4. Which destinations are restricted?

5. What is the maximum advance-delivery period?

6. Which licences and protection arrangements are required?

7. Is a rolling reserve needed?

8. How long are reserve funds retained?

9. What are the settlement times?

10. Are deposits and scheduled balance payments supported?

11. Can we take telephone payments?

12. Which currencies are available?

13. Is local acquiring available?

14. Can the gateway connect several acquirers?

15. Does the solution support smart routing?

16. How are retries controlled?

17. Which fraud tools are included?

18. How are refunds and chargebacks reported?

19. Can transactions be reconciled to booking references?

20. What happens if booking volumes increase?

21. Can the provider change the reserve?

22. What are the termination rights?

23. How long can funds be held after termination?

24. Who provides technical and account support?

25. Can we export our payment data and tokens if we leave?

The lowest quoted rate is not necessarily the most suitable solution.

Find Your New Processor

What happens when a travel merchant account is terminated?

A terminated merchant account can prevent a travel company from taking new bookings while customer refunds and future departures remain outstanding.

Possible causes include:

• Higher-than-expected transaction volume

• Excessive chargebacks

• Fraud alerts

• A change in the travel model

• Longer delivery periods

• Unsupported customer countries

• Regulatory or licensing concerns

• Undisclosed supplier relationships

• Financial deterioration

• Card-scheme monitoring

• A change in the provider’s risk appetite

The business should first request written clarification and gather:

• Termination correspondence

• Processing statements

• Chargeback reports

• Refund data

• Current financial information

• ATOL and protection documents

• Supplier agreements

• Evidence of corrective action

• Details of retained funds

• Current and future booking exposure

Do not submit numerous replacement applications before understanding why the existing facility was closed.

A new acquirer is likely to ask about previous termination, and failure to disclose it can lead to another closure.

How Merchant Advice Service helps travel merchants

Merchant Advice Service provides free, independent guidance for businesses comparing merchant accounts, gateways and payment arrangements.

MAS can help travel businesses explore options for:

Improving payment authorisation rates

This may include reviewing whether the payment setup supports:

• Smart routing

• Local or regional acquiring

• Appropriate 3D Secure use

• Analysis of decline reasons

• Carefully controlled automatic retries

• Alternative payment methods

No provider can guarantee that every valid payment will be approved. The aim is to identify avoidable declines and route transactions more effectively.

Finding a suitable acquiring partner

MAS works with a network of banks, acquirers, gateways and specialist payment businesses.

Potential routes are assessed against the information provided by the merchant, including:

• Travel activity

• Customer countries

• Booking values

• Advance-delivery period

• Processing history

• Licences and protection

• Technical requirements

Provider appetite can change, and all applications remain subject to underwriting.

Connecting multiple providers through one gateway

Where appropriate, a gateway or orchestration solution may allow several acquiring relationships to be brought together through one integration.

This can support routing, reporting and operational resilience without requiring the travel business to rebuild its checkout for every provider.

Fraud prevention and booking protection

MAS can help travel merchants identify payment solutions that include suitable fraud controls or connect to specialist fraud and booking-protection services.

The business should confirm exactly what is covered and ensure that any protection complements rather than replaces its legal and regulatory obligations.

Reporting and reconciliation

For travel businesses using several providers, currencies or booking channels, MAS can help identify solutions offering more centralised transaction reporting and clearer links between payments, settlements and booking records.

Cash-flow and settlement requirements

MAS can help merchants compare travel-specific considerations such as:

• Settlement frequency

• Reserve arrangements

• Deposit and balance payments

• Multi-currency settlement

• Supplier-payment solutions

• Alternative payment methods

MAS does not set the provider’s final terms or guarantee improved cash flow. Each commercial proposal should be modelled against the company’s actual booking and supplier commitments.

What information should you include in a travel-payment enquiry?

Providing the right information at the beginning makes it easier to identify whether a suitable route may exist.

Include:

• The exact travel activity

• Whether you act as agent, organiser or principal

• ATOL or other protection details

• Whether you currently process card payments

• Annual and monthly card turnover

• Average and maximum booking value

• Average time between payment and travel

• Customer countries

• Travel destinations

• Required currencies

• Online, telephone and face-to-face payment volumes

• Deposit and balance-payment arrangements

• Current provider and gateway

• Refund and chargeback history

• Required booking-system integration

• Details of any previous decline or termination

• Whether you require one or several acquiring routes

Sensitive documents do not normally need to be sent with an initial enquiry unless requested.

Find Your New Processor

What happens after you contact MAS?

MAS will initially review the travel business and its payment requirements.

Where a potential route appears available, the process may involve:

1. Clarifying the merchant’s role and travel activity

2. Understanding the booking and customer-payment journey

3. Reviewing processing volumes and future-delivery exposure

4. Identifying potential providers with suitable travel appetite

5. Considering gateway, routing and integration requirements

6. Explaining the information likely to be needed

7. Making an introduction where appropriate

Merchant Advice Service is not tied to one provider and does not make underwriting decisions. Businesses do not pay MAS for its initial matching and introduction service; MAS may receive a commission from a partner following a successful introduction.

This article provides general payments information and is not legal, accounting, regulatory or insurance advice. Travel protection, Package Travel Regulation and ATOL requirements depend on the individual business model. Obtain specialist advice and confirm current requirements with the relevant authorities and payment providers.