The travel industry relies heavily on online payments. Whether it’s hotel booking engines, tour operator sites or online travel agencies (OTAs), the need for fast, secure payment processing is paramount. Choosing the right payment gateway tailored specifically for travel companies’ requirements can have a big impact.
This blog covers key factors travel businesses should evaluate when selecting payment gateways, along with reasons why specialised travel payment solutions make sense for operators and agents in the tourism domain.
What to Look for while Choosing a Payment Gateway for Travel Business
When comparing payment gateways for their travel tech stack, travel companies should analyse options across four vital areas:
Customer Service & Support
Access to round-the-clock support teams well-versed with travel-specific requirements and queries helps avoid disruption, especially during peak seasons. Options like multilingual customer service and dedicated account managers cater better to global travel firms.
Robust Security
Security around card data and transactions should adhere to industry protocols like PCI-DSS while also having features like 3D Secure, CVV, and AVS layered for fraud prevention. Chargeback handling experience specifically for common travel disputes also builds extra trust.
Easy Integration
Simpler tech integrations translate into faster deployments. Travel payment gateways with ready plugins, APIs and doc support for major travel tech platforms reduce headaches around custom builds.
Low Setup Costs
Opting for payment gateways with no setup fees or hardware requirements makes it easier for cash-strapped travel startups or smaller operators to support operations during no-tourist seasons. Gateway pricing aligned with sales seasons is an added plus.
Why Choose Travel Payment Gateway?
While generic payment systems may suffice at smaller transaction volumes, tailored solutions better serve high-growth travel merchants because they:
Allow Instalment Payments
With travel being a considered purchase, enabling customers to split costs over easy instalments is a win-win for merchants and customers. Travel-focused payment gateways unlock BNPL (Buy Now Pay Later) options, allowing zero-interest instalment facilities for flight combos, holiday packages and even extra services like adventure sports or travel insurance.
Customers appreciate more affordable payment options that match their budgets, like only paying 20% upfront and smaller monthly chunks. Travel merchants enjoy faster sales conversion, higher booking revenues and lower abandoned cart rates.
Have Optimised Authorisation Rates
Getting transactions approved is pivotal for travel merchants to maximise revenue opportunities. Specialised travel payment gateways utilise intelligent algorithms and machine learning models trained on years of travel data to optimise authorisation rates.
For instance, the fraud checks and verification steps are fine-tuned based on analysing common disputes and chargebacks faced by travel segments. This results in lower false positives and more accurate fraud flags. Approval rates are also boosted by having PCI-certified platforms with robust security frameworks trusted by banks.
Can Handle High-Risk Industry
Banks categorise the travel sector as high-risk because of a high incidence of disputes, chargebacks, and fraud consistently plaguing the industry. Payment gateways designed specifically for travel merchants are equipped to navigate this landscape better. For one, they use smart algorithms to assess the fraud probability of transactions based on reservation specifics.
By relying on a payment gateway designed explicitly to keep travel vertical challenges in mind, merchants thrill customers with easy buying options while keeping their finances and operations safe.
Conclusion
Securing online payments is mission-critical for travel companies to deliver delightful booking experiences. Extensive self-service booking capabilities now expect seamless, well-integrated payment interactions and bulletproof security.
This is why forward-looking travel merchants must evaluate specialised payment gateways purpose-built for the needs of hotels, lodges, tour operators, OTAs and more. As the travel industry keeps evolving, the underlying payments platform should also match both current expectations and future ambitions of high-growth travel merchants across business models and geographies.
Santosh Kumar is a Professional SEO and Blogger, With the help of this blog he is trying to share top 10 lists, facts, entertainment news from India and all around the world.