The Best Merchant Accounts For Travel Agencies, Booking Firms, Tour Operators & Other Travel Businesses
These payment processors work well with businesses in the travel and tourism industries, often offering international processing, eCommerce payments, and options for high-risk businesses.
Frank has been writing about payment processing and business services since 2015. He is a retired Air Force officer and a former practicing attorney. He has a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from The Pennsylvania State University and a Juris Doctorate degree from the Ventura College of Law, and currently resides in Paso Robles, California.
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Frank KehlFrank has been writing about payment processing and business services since 2015. He is a retired Air Force officer and a former practicing attorney. He has a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from The Pennsylvania State University and a Juris Doctorate degree from the Ventura College of Law, and currently resides in Paso Robles, California.
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Chris has been writing about small business topics since 2003. In 2015, he joined Merchant Maverick, where he writes about business financing, payment processing, and demographic trends in entrepreneurship. Chris has been featured in Fox Business, ABC News, Yahoo Finance, GoBankingRates, Newsweek, BizJournals, and other publications. He has a Bachelor’s of Arts in English Writing Arts from SUNY Oswego, and a Masters of Science in Interactive Media from the University of Central Florida. He currently resides in the Hudson Valley region of New York.
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Chris MotolaChris has been writing about small business topics since 2003. In 2015, he joined Merchant Maverick, where he writes about business financing, payment processing, and demographic trends in entrepreneurship. Chris has been featured in Fox Business, ABC News, Yahoo Finance, GoBankingRates, Newsweek, BizJournals, and other publications. He has a Bachelor’s of Arts in English Writing Arts from SUNY Oswego, and a Masters of Science in Interactive Media from the University of Central Florida. He currently resides in the Hudson Valley region of New York.
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Advertiser Disclosure: Our unbiased reviews and content are supported in part by affiliate partnerships, and we adhere to strict guidelines to preserve editorial integrity.
Businesses operating in the travel industry — including travel booking agencies, travel insurance agencies, travel clubs, or even independent agents — need a way to accept payments, including credit and debit cards. This need has become even more acute as the entire travel industry has mostly moved online over the past few decades.
If you own and operate a travel or tourism agency, you’ll need a travel merchant account to accept credit cards, debit cards, and other forms of electronic payments. A travel merchant account is simply a merchant account that includes specialized features for merchants in the travel industry.
In this article, we’ll profile the best merchant accounts in the industry for travel businesses, and detail how each of them can help your business. We’ll also explain why most travel-related businesses require a high-risk merchant account, and provide some tips to help you choose the best provider for your travel business.
A travel merchant account is a specialized high-risk merchant account that lets businesses in the travel industry accept online card payments and electronic payments. Merchant-acquiring banks view the travel industry as high-risk, and travel merchant accounts can reliably reduce that risk for businesses in the industry.
Because acquiring banks categorize travel as a high-risk industry, travel agencies need a quality travel merchant account to continue offering their services without issue or interruption to the ways they process customer payments.
We’ve compiled a selection of the best merchant accounts for businesses that focus on travel and tourism. Before we cover those accounts, though, let’s briefly talk about what kinds of businesses fall within the travel industry.
What Business Fall Under Travel & Tourism?
National and international travel companies need payment processing solutions to efficiently and continuously accept payments from their travelers from any place on the globe and at any time. But which business segments fall under the vague term “travel industry”? Below is a list of the most notable industries and niches that require a high-risk travel merchant account:
Airlines
Charters
Cruise liners
Hospitality businesses
Hotels, resorts, and lodging businesses
Membership programs
Ticket sales agencies
Travel tour operators
Travel agencies and clubs
eCommerce-based travel sites
The above travel merchants all benefit immensely from travel merchant accounts and depend on them for efficient and uninterrupted business operations and payment processing. Thankfully, there is a large network of travel merchant-acquiring banks ready and waiting to process card and electronic payments for these travel industry segments. Let’s take a look at the best merchant accounts for travel agencies, tour operators, and the tourism industry at large.
7 Best Merchant Accounts for Travel Agencies, Tour Operators, & The Tourism Industry
Ready to choose a travel merchant account? These are the best merchant accounts for travel agencies, tour operators, and businesses operating across the travel and tourism industry. We’ve chosen these seven merchant accounts for their reasonable rates, quick payment approval speeds, ability to process electronic payments across most segments of the industry, and much more.
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Pros
Excellent customer support
No fees for merchant account setup
Free credit card terminals for payment processing
Cons
No publicly disclosed pricing
Why We Chose PaymentCloud For Travel Merchant Accounts
PaymentCloud is a merchant services provider specializing in serving a variety of high-risk industries. The company offers hands-on advocacy and guidance for merchants both during and after their travel merchant account onboarding process — and doesn’t charge an application or account setup fee.
PaymentCloud offers dependable service at a reasonable overall cost. It also receives high praise from its customers and strong recommendations from Dharma Merchant Services and Stripe, making it a great choice for any high-risk, travel-based business. Tour guides and booking agencies that find themselves in a high-risk classification for any reason immediately benefit from PaymentCloud’s expertise.
Because PaymentCloud works closely with many banks and back-end processors, merchants in the travel industry have a higher chance of account approval. Once approved, merchants can expect fair pricing and excellent customer support to keep their accounts running smoothly.
PaymentCloud Pricing
No account setup fee
No monthly minimum (low-risk accounts)
Interchange + 0.05%-0.30% + $0.08-$0.10 per transaction (low-risk accounts)
Processing rates vary by the acquiring bank/back-end processor (high-risk accounts)
$15/month account fee (low-risk accounts)
Account fees vary by the acquiring bank/back-end processor (high-risk accounts)
PaymentCloud Features
PaymentCloud serves both low-risk and high-risk businesses, but specializes in getting merchant accounts approved for high-risk industries such as airlines, travel agencies, and other travel-related businesses. The company offers the following primary features:
“Free” credit card terminal available with each account
Accounts include extensive antifraud & chargeback protection features
Cons
Very few pricing disclosures
Why We Chose Corepay For Travel Merchant Accounts
We chose Corepay as one of the relatively few high-risk specialists that not only accepts a full range of travel-related businesses, but also provides extensive information about the unique factors that go into getting this type of merchant account. Corepay can usually place merchants in most sectors of the travel industry, provided they only sell legal products and haven’t had a previous account terminated by another provider.
Corepay offers a full range of products and services, with a particular emphasis on online and mail order/telephone order (MOTO) sales. Credit card and ACH processing are available, with rates for credit card transactions starting at 2.95%. Note that Corepay fully discloses that most high-risk merchants will pay processing rates that are significantly higher than what a comparable low-risk business would pay. The company is also mum about its contracts, so you can expect to have a long-term contract with an early termination fee, as well as a rolling reserve when the account is first established.
Corepay Pricing
No application or account setup fees
No annual fees
Variable monthly fees
Variable processing rates (starting at 2.95% for high-risk merchants)
Corepay Features
Corepay offers a variety of products and services for retail and online travel industry merchants, including the following:
Offshore merchant accounts for eligible international merchants
Few fees for early account terminations
Cons
No publicly disclosed pricing
Credit card processing fees and rates may be steep for low-risk businesses
Why We Chose Durango Merchant Services For Travel Merchant Accounts
Durango Merchant Services is a merchant account provider with a stellar reputation for serving high-risk merchants and international merchants. The most important things to know about Durango Merchant Services are:
They partner with a variety of banks and processors to get merchants approved for an account, which is especially useful for high-risk travel and tourism businesses.
Durango finds accounts for merchants with poor credit or who have found themselves on the Terminated Merchant File (TMF) or MATCH List due to a long history of chargebacks.
They’re a registered ISO in Europe and offer international merchant accounts with currency conversion services, support for multicurrency accounts, and fraud prevention services that are perfect for merchants who need an international travel merchant account.
For high-risk merchants, Durango makes it simple to accept payments via terminals, mobile card processing, payment gateways, ACH processing, and even cryptocurrency. Durango Merchant Services stands out from the competition with fair pricing in a segment of the market that’s notorious for charging inflated prices. Durango offers excellent solutions to such complex merchant situations, and if they can’t work with a merchant for whatever reason, the company will be straightforward and honest about it.
Durango also provides customer service and support that far exceeds the industry standard, as well as a sales team that’s comprised of honest, knowledgeable staff. Additionally, Durango sets up international merchant accounts from the multiple countries out of which it operates to proactively and effectively deal with fraud and chargebacks.
Durango Merchant Services Pricing
Application & account setup fees not disclosed
Highly variable processing rates
Highly variable account fees
A long-term contract and an early termination fee may apply
Durango Merchant Services Features
One of our favorite high-risk providers, Durango Merchant Services offers a full range of products and services for eCommerce and retail businesses. Primary features include the following:
Offers high-risk merchant accounts to travel-related businesses
International merchant accounts available
Cryptocurrency processing available
Durango Pay payment gateway and virtual terminal
Mobile processing through the iProcess app and card reader
iSPY fraud protection service
eCheck processing available
A variety of universal credit card terminals are available
Automated custom price quoting and merchant account application process
Zero application fees
Fast underwriting process
Cons
Only available for US-based businesses
No publicly disclosed pricing
Why We Chose Soar Payments For Travel Merchant Accounts
Soar Payments is a merchant account provider that specializes in finding card processing homes for hard-to-place businesses that most merchant account providers won’t typically work with. The most important things to know about Soar Payments are:
It provides POS, mobile payment, terminal, and eCommerce solutions for high-risk merchants looking for an account provider.
The company serves standard-risk business types in addition to high-risk ones.
Soar partners with Chargeback.com to provide merchants with tools to handle disputed payments.
If you need a feature-rich, high-risk merchant account provider for your travel business, Soar Payments may be just the right fit. If you’re a high-risk merchant, it may sometimes seem like there are few trustworthy options available to you. Many high-risk credit card processors know that merchants don’t have many options and prey on a sense of desperation. Soar Payments is different, however, offering reasonable rates, fees, and contract terms. The company also has a reputation for treating its merchants well.
Soar Payments Pricing
Variable processing rates for high-risk accounts (tiered pricing usually used)
Variable account fees for high-risk merchants
Usually includes a monthly minimum
A long-term contract and an early termination fee may apply
Soar Payments Features
Soar Payments offers a variety of products and services to enable credit card payments and help your business grow. The following key features are available:
High-risk merchant accounts
Offers PAX A920 “smart” credit card terminal
Authorize.Net, NMI, or USAePay payment gateways are available
ACH and echeck processing are available
ChargebackArmor anti-fraud and chargeback protection package available
SaaS billing system that streamlines domestic and international payment processing
Offshore payment processing includes multichannel processing and an extensive banking network
ACH & eCheck processing offered
Cons
Requires minimum $50K/month processing volume
Why We Chose PaynetSecure For Travel Merchant Accounts
PaynetSecure is a merchant account provider that focuses on domestic and offshore merchant accounts for businesses in high-risk industries. The most important things to know about PaynetSecure are:
The company specializes in high-risk merchant accounts and offers exclusive access to banks not typically available through other payment processors.
It combines its international and domestic merchant accounts under a single account onboarding system.
PaynetSecure offers competitive rates and groups its international and domestic merchant accounts under its single system. The company processes most major debit and credit cards for high-risk and high-volume businesses that deal with large-ticket sales, including those in the travel and tourism industry.
According to the company’s website, PaynetSecure also offers mobile payment solutions, eCommerce solutions, virtual terminals, payment gateways, MOTO, processing for 160 currencies, fraud protection, PCI compliance, recurring payments, ACH processing, and chargeback management, all of which are invaluable for businesses operating in the modern travel industry.
PaynetSecure Pricing
Processing rates range from 3.5% to 6.95% for high-risk offshore accounts, 2.95% to 4.95% for lower-risk international eCommerce
Per-transaction fees as high as 0.65% for high-risk offshore accounts, 0.45% for lower-risk international eCommerce
Reserve requirement: 5%–10% for high-risk offshore accounts, 0%–5% for lower-risk international eCommerce accounts
$50-$150/month account fee for high-risk offshore accounts ($0–$50/month for lower-risk international eCommerce accounts)
PaynetSecure Features
PaynetSecure places a high emphasis on support for international payments and businesses, making it particularly well-suited for the travel industry. Primary features include the following:
Custom pricing contingent on merchant business segments and processing history
Excellent support for echeck and same-day ACH payment processing
Online payment processing options with easy integration to websites
Cons
No publicly disclosed pricing
Why We Chose National ACH For Travel Merchant Accounts
National ACH is a reliable and high-quality merchant services provider that specializes in ACH processing for business segments that have traditionally had trouble getting account approvals. While it doesn’t disclose its pricing, the company explicitly mentions that it services high-risk merchants and provides general guidelines for pricing available to different merchant types.
While National ACH specializes in ACH and echeck payment processing, it also supports credit and debit card processing through its high-risk merchant accounts. However, this support appears to be limited to online and keyed-in payments. The company does not appear to offer credit card terminals or other processing hardware for in-person payment acceptance.
National ACH offers robust eCommerce solutions such as virtual terminals with fast approvals, secure payment processing, and chargeback protection tools that are perfect for travel and tourism agencies that focus on eCommerce services. Merchants should consider National ACH if they’re interested in accepting payments online with easy integration to their websites and stabilizing their cash flow with features such as automated recurring payments and same-day ACH credit processing.
National ACH Pricing
Application & account setup fees not disclosed
Processing rates & recurring fees not disclosed
Payment gateway fees not disclosed
Variable contract terms
National ACH Features
National ACH provides extensive support to merchants in the travel industry, including the following key products and services:
High-risk merchant accounts (includes support for ACH, echeck, and local payment methods)
Proprietary payment gateway certified for Level 1 PCI compliance
Supports ACH transfers and one-day ACH credits
Supports echeck processing
Virtual terminal included with account
Includes recurring billing support
Offers several chargeback prevention and identity verification tools
High-risk merchant accounts available to businesses across many industry segments
Offers offshore merchant accounts
Reasonable pricing & contract terms
Excellent customer support
Cons
No publicly disclosed pricing
Why We Chose SMB Global For Travel Merchant Accounts
SMB Global is a merchant account provider that primarily serves eCommerce businesses that are considered high-risk. The most important things to know about SMB Global are:
The company is set up to work exclusively with high-risk merchants and businesses that need an offshore merchant account.
It primarily serves eCommerce businesses in high-risk business segments.
Not even high-risk experts will deal with every possible kind of business, but SMB Global covers the majority of high-risk merchants, including most businesses in the travel industry. SMB Global is a reliable merchant service provider that has maintained a mostly immaculate customer complaint record in its relatively short time of existence, and it’s one of the few providers willing to take on merchant types in nearly any high-risk business segment. SMB Global does a remarkable job of working with plenty of high-risk industries to get merchants matched up with a bank or processor that can handle their needs and will quickly approve them for an account.
While SMB Global doesn’t offer any specific pricing details, it does feature a policy of not imposing a rolling reserve when your account is first established. This feature is quite uncommon in the high-risk processing world and can vastly improve your cash flow when you first start using your new merchant account.
SMB Global Pricing
Application & account setup fees not disclosed
Variable processing rates & recurring fees
No rolling reserves
May require long-term contract with early termination fee
SMB Global Features
SMB Global offers a variety of products and services for all travel-related businesses, including the following:
High-risk merchant accounts
Offshore merchant accounts available
EMV-compliant credit card terminals
Authorize.Net & NMI payment gateways available
Compatible with 175+ third-party online shopping carts
Our Methodology For Choosing The Best Merchant Account Providers For Travel Businesses
In selecting the best merchant account providers for travel agencies, we looked primarily at the three core categories of pricing, features, and customer support. With most travel businesses being in the high-risk category, pricing is almost always more expensive than for a comparable low-risk business. Nonetheless, the best high-risk providers for the travel industry offer reasonable pricing using a quote-based system that’s tailored to your specific business and features a minimum of extraneous fees and charges.
Likewise, a good high-risk provider should offer most of the same features that are available to low-risk businesses. These include a wide range of options in processing hardware for businesses accepting in-person transactions, extensive payment gateway support for online sales, and a variety of ancillary services (e.g., loyalty/gift card programs, analytics and reporting features, etc.) to help you run your business.
Finally, top-notch customer support is very important to any high-risk business, as problems such as technical difficulties, chargebacks, and transaction holds are bound to occur. Our top choices for travel businesses offer excellent customer support once you’ve signed up and begun processing transactions.
Why Are Travel & Tourism Considered High-Risk Industries?
The travel and tourism industries are relatively high-risk, from a payment processing perspective. Business owners operating in the travel industry need to contend with the inherent risks that come with processing online sales transactions, such as travel merchant accounts’ susceptibility to fraud and chargebacks.
The biggest factors that make the travel industry high-risk include:
High Percentage Of Chargebacks & Fraudulent Transactions
Chargebacks often happen when clients pay for a service upfront and then cancel their travel plans and bookings weeks or even months after making a reservation and paying for it. A high chargeback ratio is often the main reason that banks and payment processors won’t approve a travel business for a merchant account.
High levels of fraud also discourage many banks and payment processors from taking the risk of working with businesses in the travel industry. Criminals usually pounce on the transactions of big-ticket, travel-related purchases made with credit cards. This is a huge issue, considering that fraud is one of the biggest concerns for travel companies. Customers need to feel confident when they make their purchases because of the sensitive data they share.
Variable & Unpredictable Cash Flow
Cash flow is crucial to the survival of any business, and none more so than a business operating in the travel and tourism industry. The recent COVID-19 pandemic created many issues for travel agencies. A high rate of cancellations in the business travel sector resulted in many travel agencies being unable to maintain a consistent revenue stream. A surge in chargebacks quickly led to further difficulties in maintaining a steady flow of revenue for many travel businesses.
Even in today’s post-pandemic environment, fluctuations in the flow of revenue due to wars, natural disasters, and other unpredictable events can still create headaches for travel agencies and their merchant account providers.
Frequent High-Ticket Transactions
Some banks and payment processors view the high-ticket sales that travel businesses contend with as red flags. High-ticket purchases don’t mix well with a high rate of customer chargebacks. Banks view this scenario as a recipe for disaster, especially when large transactions begin to exceed a travel business’s monthly average sale amount. What’s more is that prolonged delivery times increase chargeback risks associated with high-ticket transactions which, in the minds of some underwriters, invites risk.
What To Look For In A Travel Merchant Account
Processing payments through a travel merchant account shouldn’t be stressful. Merchants can still process payments through a travel merchant account and accept an unlimited number of card transactions while mitigating financial risks to their business. Look for these factors when choosing a new travel merchant account for your business:
Chargeback Protection Features
Specialized chargeback detection and prevention services can keep your travel merchant account from becoming frozen. Travel merchant accounts should include chargeback protection features that mitigate fraudulent charges and the fallout from those charges. Chargeback protection measures that protect against fraud, for example, may ask for a customer’s card verification value (CVV or CVV2) before a transaction is accepted. These protection measures can also draw your attention to transactions that raise red flags so that you can act quickly.
Extensive Payment Gateway Customization Options
Payment gateways and credit card APIs are essential to businesses that do the majority of their selling online, including travel and tourism-based businesses. An application programming interface (API) provides a set of functions that programmers can use to access and utilize a system to create in-house payment solutions and modify the functionality of their payment API within their own, custom infrastructure. In other words, businesses can use advanced technologies and innovations like APIs and payment gateways in payment processing to avoid building a payment processing infrastructure from the ground up — without having to accept the limited configurations that a third-party payment processor offers out of the box.
Support For International Businesses
International travel merchant accounts are a must-have for travel and tourism-based businesses that need to accept payments from US-based travelers as well as international travelers. International support offered through a travel merchant account provider lets businesses board national and international accounts onto a single account to streamline their payment processing. International support also includes currency conversion and the ability to allow customers in other countries to make payments in their local currency.
Which Travel Agency Merchant Account Is Right For Your Business?
A travel merchant account can provide your business the flexibility and financial security it needs to let you stay focused on creating a simple and seamless buying experience for your travelers. Your goal when choosing a travel merchant account should be to keep costs low while providing innovative online payment processing solutions that meet your unique needs.
Do you need an extensive network of both US and international banks to provide domestic and global payments solutions? Need to tackle a high volume of sales with high-capacity processing? Perhaps you’re interested in alternative payment methods such as eChecks and ACH payments to bolster your sales numbers, or maybe you just want good, old-fashioned customer support that’s dedicated to your continued success. Whatever your needs, it’s important that you choose a travel merchant account that best aligns with your strategies for healthy and continued growth.
FAQs: Travel Merchant Accounts
What is a travel merchant account?
A travel merchant account is a specialized high-risk merchant account that lets businesses in the travel industry accept credit and debit card payments online and in person. Many travel merchant accounts also support alternate payment methods, such as ACH and echeck processing.
What payment solutions do travel agents use?
Travel agents will usually need a full-service merchant account with a unique Merchant Identification Number (MID) that identifies their business to the various payment processing networks. Because the travel industry is generally considered to be high-risk by the acquiring banks and processors, travel businesses usually cannot use a payment service provider (PSP) like Square or PayPal.
What is the cheapest credit card processor for travel agencies?
High-risk merchant account providers that accept travel businesses generally do not disclose their prices, relying instead on a quote-based system that’s tailored to each individual business. To find the cheapest provider, you’ll need to obtain quotes from multiple providers and analyze their offered pricing to determine which one will be the least expensive overall.
What is the best merchant services provider for travel agencies?
There is no single best merchant services provider for all travel agencies. However, you can find the best provider for your business by looking for one that offers all the features your business needs to accept payments and operate on a day-to-day basis. The best choice for your business will also offer reasonable pricing and contract terms, as well as top-notch customer support.
In Summary: 7 Best Merchant Accounts for Travel Agencies, Tour Operators, & The Tourism Industry
Frank has been writing about payment processing and business services since 2015. He is a retired Air Force officer and a former practicing attorney. He has a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from The Pennsylvania State University and a Juris Doctorate degree from the Ventura College of Law, and currently resides in Paso Robles, California.
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