A travel payment gateway from eCom Pay is underwritten by experienced specialists who understand forward delivery, deposits and balances and seasonal peaks. Processing in 150+ currencies with next working day settlement, ATOL and ABTA aware onboarding and real dispute support, approved in 24 hours once your documents are in.
24 hrs
approval, once documents are in
150+
currencies processed
4.4
Trustpilot rating
2010
processing payments since
On this page Why travel is different · The travel setup · How it works · What underwriters look for · Chargebacks · FAQs
It is rarely about your business. A travel merchant account simply needs underwriting that understands forward delivery, high values and the shape of a season, and that is a specialism, not a checkbox.
Check your approval oddsTravel is sold today and delivered in months, and automated decision engines read that gap as pure risk. The result is freezes, reserves and declined applications for perfectly healthy businesses. Underwriting that understands forward delivery prices the gap in from day one instead.
A family holiday is not a coffee. Transaction values in the hundreds and thousands set off risk rules written for everyday retail, so genuine bookings get flagged, held or declined. Travel-aware screening tells a booking pattern from a fraud pattern.
Takings surge in season, and cancellations, schedule changes and no-shows generate disputes whatever you do. A travel account needs headroom for the peak and real support for the disputes, both agreed before the season starts, not argued about during it.
Every application is reviewed by people who know a licensed travel business is a legitimate business, not a category to avoid. The account sits on specialist acquiring that understands forward delivery, with the tools a travel checkout actually needs switched on around it.
Take the deposit at booking and collect the balance later with Pay by Link, sent by email or text when it falls due. No card details read over the phone, no chasing, just a link that gets paid.
Sell in the currency your customer thinks in, with processing in 150+ currencies and settlement in 25+. International bookings stop being a workaround and start being a market.
The virtual terminal takes MOTO payments for phone and email bookings securely, so the customers who still like to call an actual travel expert can pay the moment they say yes.
Tokenisation vaults the card on the first booking, so returning travellers pay with a saved card and just their CVV. Repeat customers are the best customers, and their checkout should feel like it.
Risk rules tuned to booking patterns rather than everyday retail, so genuine high value bookings sail through while genuine fraud gets caught. Fewer false declines, fewer nasty surprises.
Disputes run through proper chargeback management, evidence compiled, cases represented and patterns fed back into prevention, with a team that knows what wins travel cases.
Fair. So here is what UK merchants say after switching to eCom Pay, in their own words.
It was such a pleasure working with eCom Pay for my company, very straightforward to set up and the team were so helpful. No hidden fees, cost efficient, and from using other platforms before I can say this has been the best so far.
Verified merchantvia Trustpilot
We found eCom Pay to be a simple, efficient payment system to integrate, with a lot of support behind it. Would recommend them over competitors who charge far too much.
Verified merchantvia Trustpilot
Great customer service from eCom Pay. Needed a card reader for my business, they had me set up fast and gave me better rates than the last company. Highly recommend.
Verified merchantvia Trustpilot
Super impressed with eCom Pay. The transaction fees are competitive, and I love that my customers have multiple payment options, which has noticeably improved my sales.
Verified merchantvia Trustpilot
Good service from eCom Pay. The card machines are reliable and easy to use. I like that there are no hidden fees and everything is explained upfront.
Verified merchantvia Trustpilot
Would highly recommend. Easy, simple, and always answers when I need help. The best payment gateway I have come across, with a wide variety of packages available.
Verified merchantvia Trustpilot
Approval in travel is a preparation game, and preparation is exactly what your specialist is for. Three sets of evidence do most of the work, and we help you assemble every one.
Start your applicationIncorporation details, licensing and any protection arrangements such as ATOL or ABTA membership. Underwriters who know travel know exactly what this evidence proves, so it works for you rather than sitting in a folder.
Clear terms, a published cancellation policy and confirmation emails that match them. These documents win disputes later, so we help you get them dispute-ready before you ever need them.
Processing history if you have it, forecast volumes if you are growing, and an honest picture of the seasonal peak. The account is underwritten for the business at full speed, so the peak triggers nothing.
Cancellations, schedule changes and no-shows make disputes part of the terrain in travel. The answer is a defence in four layers, built before the season, working all the way through it.
The name on the card statement matches the brand the customer booked with, and confirmation emails restate what was bought, for when and under which terms. Most disputes die right here, because nobody disputes a charge they recognise.
Booking terms acknowledged at checkout, cancellation policy on record, itineraries and correspondence retained. When a dispute does land, the evidence already exists in the shape the card schemes want it.
Dispute alerts flag a complaint before it hardens into a chargeback, giving you the chance to refund, rebook or resolve directly and keep the ratio clean through the season.
When a case is worth fighting, it is fought properly, with travel-savvy evidence assembled by people who know what wins cancellation, no-show and schedule change disputes.
The full playbook lives in our guide on minimising chargebacks, and the Interair Holidays case study shows the layers working for a global agency.
Because of the gap between payment and delivery. A holiday is paid for today and taken in months, and if anything prevents delivery the card scheme rules put the refund liability on the payment chain. Add high transaction values and seasonal spikes, and generic risk models mark the whole sector cautious. Specialist underwriting prices this in properly instead.
Yes. Travel agencies, tour operators and online travel businesses are approved every week when the application is processed properly. Experienced underwriters present the licensing, protection arrangements and booking terms the way acquiring needs to see them, and the account is approved in 24 hours once your documents are in.
No. Reserves are a tool, not a rule. Where one is appropriate it is agreed openly at underwriting and shaped to how the business actually trades, so nothing about the account changes by surprise mid season. Read the Interair Holidays case study for how that played out for a global agency.
Take the deposit at booking through your checkout or virtual terminal, then collect the balance with Pay by Link when it falls due. The link goes by email or text, the customer pays securely online, and both payments settle to the same account the next working day.
Yes. Processing runs in 150+ currencies with settlement in 25+, so you can price a booking in the currency your customer thinks in and reconcile it cleanly on your side. For international travel businesses this is standard equipment, not an add-on.
Protection arrangements like ATOL and ABTA membership are strong evidence in a travel application, and our underwriters know exactly what they demonstrate. Onboarding is aware of the regimes and presents your protection position properly. We arrange your payments, and your protection obligations stay with the relevant bodies.
In layers. Clear descriptors and confirmations stop disputes starting, dispute-ready documentation wins the ones that do, alerts flag complaints before they harden into chargebacks, and representment is handled by people who know what wins travel cases. The guide on minimising chargebacks covers the full playbook.
The next working day, including on high value bookings. For a business paying airlines, hotels and suppliers on their own schedules, settlement timing is cash flow, and next working day settlement is one of the strongest practical advantages a travel account can carry.
Approval takes 24 hours once your documents are in. The only real variable is how quickly the licensing, protection and booking documents come back to us, and your specialist guides you through exactly what is needed step by step, so nothing stalls in a queue.
Written by the eCom Pay team. Reviewed August 2026. Last updated August 2026.
Experienced underwriters process your application with the booking window priced in from day one, approved in 24 hours once your documents are in, settled the next working day.
In another specialist sector? Explore high risk payment solutions or see payments for online pharmacies.