Travel Merchant Accounts

Travel Merchant Accounts

If you are searching for a travel merchant account, you have landed at the right place.  US and international travel companies successfully use our payment processing platforms to smoothly and efficiently accept payments from travelers world-wide.

  • Competitive Rates.  Reducing processing fees positively impacts profitability.  Contact us for a free, no obligation rate comparison.
  • Rapid Approvals. Travel merchant account are approved quickly.  Get more orders faster.
  • All Travel Merchants Welcome.  Proven payment processing solutions for all segments of the travel industry.
  • US and International Travel Merchant Accounts.  Easily accept payments from US and international travelers. Board all accounts on a single payment gateway to streamline management.
  • Mobile Payments.  Accept payments from mobile devices through the travel merchant account payment gateway.
  • High Volume Travel Merchant Accounts.  Get the payment processing capacity you need to grow your business.
  • Multicurrency Payment Processing.  Accept payments in 160 currencies.  Receive settlements in all major world currencies.
  • Multiple payment options.  Accept all credit & debit card brands.  Add electronic checks to increase US sales up to 30%  Add “in country” alternative payment methods preferred by international travelers for sales lifts up to 40%.
  • PCI-DSS Level 1 Payment Gateway.  Protect your business and your customers with military grade encryption for secure data transmission.

 

Travel Merchant Accounts for All Travel Businesses

Businesses in all segments of the travel industry are invited to apply.  Below are examples of travel merchants welcomed by our extensive network of friendly acquiring banks keen to process payments for the industry. 

Airlines

Charters

Cruise Lines

Hospitality

Hotels & Lodging

Membership & Club Programs

Reservations

Resorts

 

Ticket Sales

Timeshares

Tour Operators

Transportation Services

Travel Agencies

Travel Clubs

Travel Ecommerce Sites

Vacation Packages

And many more! 


 

What is a Travel Merchant Account?

The travel industry accounts for 10.3% of global GDP and employs more than 300 million people worldwide.  The rapid growth of travel businesses continues to outpace other industries as increasing numbers of US and international travelers desire to experience the world.  And have the time and money to spend on new adventures. 

The huge growth in global ecommerce has made travelers worldwide comfortable paying for travel online.  The card brands aggressively market throughout the world.  As a result, almost 20 billion payment cards will be in circulation by the end of next year.    

Travelers around the world routinely use electronic payments at online travel sites. Providing travelers smoothly efficient payment methods is the key to success for travel merchants. 

Travel merchant accounts make it simple for travelers to pay you online with credit cards, debit cards, and alternative payment methods preferred in different countries.  Your travel merchant account can be used for all sales channels, including ecommerce, MOTO (mail / phone orders) and retail locations.

Reliable affordable travel merchant accounts are not always easy to obtain.  The primary reason is that the travel industry is considered high risk by acquiring banks.  Still, many banks in the US & internationally are friendly to the industry and welcome travel merchants.


 

Why are Travel Merchants Classified High Risk?

The main reason travel companies are classified as high merchants is because the industry statistically has a greater likelihood of  chargebacks than standard risk businesses.  The travel industry experiences an estimated $25 billion in fraudulent transactions and chargebacks yearly. 

There are three main reasons acquiring banks are concerned about chargebacks from travel merchants.

  • High average tickets. Tickets, accommodations, tours, and other expenses associated with a trip are often expensive.  Travelers may try defraying expenses by disputing a transaction even though it legitimately authorized by the consumer.  This is known as  “friendly fraud.”   
  • Purchases are made in advance.  Transportation, lodging and other costs associated with a trip are paid for weeks or months before the trip occurs.  The extended time between payment and the actual trip can cause consumers to chargeback transactions if plans change, buyer’s remorse sets in, or life events interfere. 
  • Industry Risk. Banks take big hits from chargebacks when travel companies declare bankruptcy or experience financial difficulties.  And the banks can also face fines when chargebacks exceed the ratios required by the card brands. 

For this reason, effective management of chargebacks & fraud is important for all travel merchants.


 

How Travel Merchants Control Chargebacks

There are excellent tools available to travel merchants to keep chargebacks low. 

The travel merchant account gateway has wide array of fraud-fighting features.  Enabling the anti-fraud weapons in the payment gateway is your first level of defense against chargebacks.  These features can be manually or automatically configured by travel merchants to adjust to changing markets conditions or specific business requirements.

Travel merchants may also benefit from 3DSecure services offered by the card brands.  These products add an extra layer of security at checkout and shift liability for chargebacks from the merchants back to the card brands. 

Many travel merchants use chargeback mitigation and dispute management services because chargebacks are quite difficult to manage internally due to the complexity of the chargeback system.   Chargeback mitigation services alert you when travelers initiate a dispute, giving you the ability to issue a refund rather than risk a chargeback.  Chargeback dispute management services assist you in fighting chargebacks once they occur.


 

International and US Travel Merchant Accounts

The decision of whether to use US travel merchant accounts, international travel merchant accounts or a combination of both primarily depends upon your targeted markets.   The highest card approval ratios are received when the acquiring bank is in the same region as the cardhholder.

For example, if the majority of your customers are American, a US travel merchant account gives you the highest approval rates on cards issued by US banks.   If target markets include international travelers, it is prudent to have international travel merchant accounts with banks in the same regions the travelers so card approval rates in those regions remain high. 

Another benefit of international merchant accounts for global ecommerce is reduction of processing fees by taking advantage of lower intra-region interchange rates for cards processed within the region.  For instance, interchange rates are lower in Europe than in the US so processing European cards through a European bank will be less expensive than processing the card through a US bank. 

If your business targets both US and international travelers establishing US and international travel merchant accounts is a wise strategy.  The travel merchant account payment gateway accommodates multiple accounts on a single platform, greatly simplifying recompilation, reporting, and management of transaction processing. 

Card payments are important, of course.  Yet, the additional of alternative payment methods is an easy way to increase sales with no additional work. 

In the US, ACH / echecks are the most popular alternative payment.  Adding electronic checks to your checkout page boosts orders up to 30%, depending upon your market.  If you are targeting international customers, adding trusted “in-country” payment methods such as local bank transfers can increase orders up to 40%.


 

Multicurrency Payment Processing for Travel Merchant Account

If you are targeting international travelers, displaying and accepting payments in familiar local currencies is simply smart business.  All travel merchant accounts include multi-currency payment processing as a standard feature.  Accept payments and receive settlements in all major world currencies.

When travelers visit your website, multicurrency payment processing keep the focus on making a purchase.  Without multicurrency payments, you run you risk losing customers.  When travelers do not quickly grasp what the costs will be, they will leave your site.  And click onto a competitor that displays and accepts payments in the currency familiar to the traveler.

Multicurrency payment processing inspires trust because the currency you display on your site is the same as what the shopper uses every day.  International travelers are most comfortable buying from ecommerce sites where pricing is easy to understand. 


 

Applying for a Travel Merchant Account

Application for a travel merchant account is free, with no obligation.  Our goal is to offer you the lowest rates, fastest approvals and most favorable terms.

Applying for a travel merchant account is a straight forward process.  A completed application is submitted with additional information about your business.  Documents requested include:  Driver’s license or passport for the signer on the account; most current past 3-6 months of payment processing statements; company formation documents such as Articles of Incorporation or LLC; most current past 3 months of bank statements; and information on the account to which processing funds will settle..

Approval times for US travel merchant accounts are 3-5 days.  International travel merchant accounts take 5-10 business days to be approved due to time zone considerations. 

NationalACH has long-term, trusted relationships with a wide network of US and international acquiring banks.  Providing you with many excellent options for travel merchant accounts. 


 

Why Chose NationalACH for Your Travel Merchant Accounts?

For the past 20 years, businesses have successfully used our services to establish and diversify payment processing accounts.  Here are some of the reasons:

  • Extensive Banking Network.  Acquiring banks are located in the US and worldwide.  Our wide choice of banking partners ensures you get best travel merchant accounts in in all the regions in which you do business. 
  • High Volume Merchant Accounts.  Travel merchants often require substantial payment processing capacity.  Get the payment processing volume you need to manage and grow your business.   
  • Multiple Payment Methods.  Accept all debit /credit card brands.  Add country-specific alternative payment methods to quickly increase orders and profits.
  • Fraud Protection.  Multiple fraud fighting tools help you approve good orders quickly and decline fraudulent transactions. 
  • Secure Level 1 PCI-DSS Travel Merchant Account Payment Gateway Safe, compliant payment processing protects your business and your customers.   
  • Superb Customer Service.  Highly trained representatives provide you the help you need, when  you need it.
  • Take Payments Anyway You Want.  Accept payments online.  Unlimited virtual terminals for MOTO (mail / telephone orders).  Use your travel merchant account at point of sale.  And accept orders from mobile devices. 

Let Us Work for You

Your Success is Our Mission

At National ACH, we’ve done our homework on payments. Use our expertise to get the payment processing capacity you need to manage & grow your business. Our “niche” market is high risk & high volume payment processing. Yet, standard risk merchants also benefit from our services. We are always happy to talk with you, with no obligation. Discover top notch service along with the iron-clad secure processing solutions you are looking for. Payments power your business success.

CHOICE OF MERCHANT SERVICES

National ACH is a one-stop-shop for all your merchant service needs.

Debit Credit Card Processing

High Volume US & International merchant accounts

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ACH Processing

Auto debits your customers’ bank accounts.  Electronically settles funds  to you

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Same Day ACH Credits

Money sent today is received today

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Echecks Processing

More flexible than ACH for high risk merchants

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Contact us at 855-562-ACH2