Looking for an Airline and Booking Merchant Account?
Just because the airline and booking industry is high risk, doesn't mean you should have to pay high fees. Double Helix Processing can help you get the right merchant account you need.
Looking for Airline Booking Merchant Account Solutions?
The Airline and Booking Industry is categorized as high risk due to the nature in which the transactions are processed. Unexpected issues arise that may cause the person not to redeem their ticket, cancel their reservations for the product or service that was purchased, and a refund is requested, this common issue is what categorizes your airline booking merchant account as high risk.
The amount of time for the customer to consider canceling their travel or booking plans can result in the chances of a chargeback for these customers to be very high. This potential hazard is another reason that makes the business subject to needing a high-risk merchant account.
Many of the reservations purchased for travel occur as card-not-present. This means that the debit or credit card was given over the phone during booking or used to book with online. Card-Not-Present transactions can make it difficult to prevent fraud, which in turn creates the probability of excessive chargebacks.
Businesses in the Airline and Booking industry classify their products of buying tickets and booking travel as a “High-Ticket items,” meaning that the price tag is usually pretty high. This type of transaction is a huge red flag for acquiring banks. The only thing worse than chargebacks are higher priced chargebacks and that makes typical banks nervous about doing business with the airline and booking industry. Banks calculate risk based on the several factors like the potential for chargebacks, potential for refunds and high-ticket items.
Did You Recently Lose Payment Processing for your Airline Booking Merchant Account?
Let’s paint a picture shall we, a client calls to book with you, the bill comes to $500. You send the client an invoice via email. The customer then pays this invoice with a debit or credit card over the phone or through the emailed invoice, making this payment a card-not-present payment.
Because you are using an airline booking merchant account, you will get that $500. However, if the charge made online is disputed by the customer or reported as a fraudulent charge and the customer wins the dispute, the merchant processing company has to refund the customer if the funds are not in your account.
Why Does this Matter and How Can Double Helix Processing Help with your Airline Booking Merchant Account?
When you apply for an airline booking merchant account the underwriters for the bank and merchant processing company will assess whether your business has a high likelihood of excessive chargebacks — this is what classifies your business as a high-risk merchant.
As a merchant in need of a high risk credit card processor will have to obtain a high risk credit merchant account with a reputable company that has the ability to effectively place your type of account. After all, Double Helix Processing is the best and most reliable in the industry when it comes to high risk merchant accounts.
How Does Being High Risk affect your Airline Booking Merchant Account?
The challenges for businesses with a high-risk merchant account status are:
Underwriting
If your business is placed in the high-risk category, you are more than likely going to have a much more involved underwriting process. You will be required to come up with tax returns, corporate filing paperwork, several months (sometimes up to a year) of bank statements and processing history and travel license if your state requires it.
Fees
You can also expect higher than normal fees. This includes but is not limited to higher fees per transaction, higher fees for monthly statements, and a larger than normal cash reserve to ensure the processing bank that they are covered in the occurrence of potential chargebacks and or refunds or even a possible reserve.
Keep in mind that the above only applies if a bank decides to approve you, which most will not, and it can be incredibly difficult to find a reliable processing partner. You don’t have to go through the run around of finding and applying with several banks only to get declined — Double Helix Processing makes getting approved for an airline booking merchant account simple. Just fill out our quick and easy, online Merchant Account Application to get started.
Why Should You Choose Double Helix Processing?
We understand the unique needs of the different airline and booking related business types and have established numerous acquiring banking relationships to become your best resource in getting airline and booking merchant accounts set up and accepting online payments. Our expertise is your ticket to getting the stable processing you need to further your business.
