Can a new travel agency get a merchant account in Europe?

Yes, but expect tighter terms: a rolling reserve, deferred settlement and lower initial volume caps. Specialist EEA and UK acquirers onboard new travel merchants regularly, especially where the founders have industry experience, confirmed supplier agreements and insolvency protection such as ATOL or an equivalent national scheme.

What rolling reserve should a travel agency expect?

Five to fifteen percent of turnover held for 90 to 180 days is typical for travel. New merchants and those with long booking lead times sit at the higher end. Reserves usually step down after six to twelve months of clean processing, and some acquirers accept a bank guarantee instead of cash.

My acquirer terminated my travel merchant account. What now?

First find out whether you were listed on MATCH, because that changes which providers will engage. Then apply once, honestly, to a specialist high risk acquirer with a file that explains the termination and what has changed. Do not fire off applications to multiple mainstream providers, and do not misdescribe the business to get boarded.

Does ATOL or IATA accreditation help with card processing?

Yes. Insolvency protection schemes reduce the acquirer's exposure if the agency fails, so underwriters treat accredited agencies more favourably. It will not override a poor chargeback history, but it materially improves the file for UK and EEA acquirers.

Travel agency merchant accounts: getting approved and staying live

Travel is high risk because payment is taken months before delivery, so approvals depend on showing the booking pipeline, supplier contracts and insolvency pr

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Travel agencies are classed as high risk by almost every card acquirer, regardless of how long they have traded or how clean their accounts are. The reason is structural: you take payment months before the service is delivered, and if a supplier fails or a trip is cancelled, the chargebacks land on the acquirer. This page explains how European and UK acquirers assess travel merchants, what a realistic application file looks like, and how agencies that were declined or terminated can get processing again.

If you run a tour operator, OTA, DMC or ticketing business and your current provider has raised reserves, capped volume or given notice, the same principles apply.

Short answer

Why is a travel agency considered high risk?

Because payment is taken long before the service is delivered. If the agency or one of its suppliers fails before the trip, customers charge back and the acquirer carries the loss. This deferred-delivery exposure, plus seasonality and third-party suppliers, puts travel on most acquirers' high risk lists regardless of the individual agency's track record.

Can a new travel agency get a merchant account in Europe: Yes, but expect tighter terms: a rolling reserve, deferred settlement and lower initial volume caps.
What rolling reserve should a travel agency expect: Five to fifteen percent of turnover held for 90 to 180 days is typical for travel. New merchants and those with long booking lead times sit at the higher end.
My acquirer terminated my travel merchant account. What now: First find out whether you were listed on MATCH, because that changes which providers will engage.

Why acquirers treat travel as high risk

The core issue is deferred delivery. A customer pays in January for a September holiday. If the agency fails in between, the card schemes make the acquirer refund those customers. Acquirers therefore price travel against your forward-booking exposure, not your current turnover.

Seasonality makes it worse. A summer-heavy booking pattern means chargeback exposure peaks exactly when cash flow is tightest. Add in third-party suppliers you do not control, airlines, hotels, ground handlers, and underwriters see a chain of failure points between the payment and the delivered service.

None of this means your agency is a bad business. It means the application has to answer these structural questions directly rather than hoping the underwriter overlooks them.

How European and UK acquirers assess travel merchants

EEA-licensed acquirers and UK FCA-authorised institutions look at the same fundamentals: time in business, processing history, chargeback ratio, refund policy clarity, and the gap between payment date and delivery date. What differs is appetite. Mainstream acquirers often decline travel outright on policy. Specialist high risk acquirers in the EEA and UK will engage, but they price the deferred-delivery risk into reserves and settlement terms.

ATOL, IATA or national insolvency protection membership helps in the UK and some EU markets because it shifts part of the customer-loss risk away from the card scheme. Underwriters also care about supplier contracts: an agency with confirmed allotment agreements reads very differently from one reselling inventory it does not control.

Expect questions about your booking pipeline, average lead time, cancellation rate and how you handle supplier failures. Vague answers here are the most common reason an otherwise good application stalls.

Reserves, settlement terms and what is normal

Almost every travel merchant account carries a rolling reserve or deferred settlement. A reserve of five to fifteen percent held for 90 to 180 days is common in the sector; higher for new merchants or those with long lead times. Settlement cycles of weekly or fortnightly are normal where a low risk retailer would get daily payouts.

These terms are negotiable over time. Acquirers reduce reserves as you build clean processing history, and some will accept a bank guarantee or letter of credit in place of a cash reserve once the relationship matures.

Be wary of any provider offering travel processing with no reserve and instant settlement. Either the underwriting has not really happened, or the terms will change after your first chargeback spike.

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If you have been declined or terminated

A decline from a mainstream acquirer is usually a policy decision, not a verdict on your agency. The mistake is applying repeatedly to similar providers, because each decline is visible and a pattern of applications reads as a red flag.

A termination is more serious, especially if it came with a MATCH listing. The priority then is an honest application to a specialist acquirer that onboards travel merchants knowingly, with a file that explains what happened and what has changed. Misdescribing the business to get boarded faster is how agencies end up terminated twice.

While you rebuild processing, keep your settlement banking separate and healthy. Agencies that lose their merchant account and their bank account in the same month are the ones that fail.

How Xavion works with travel businesses

Xavion prepares the underwriting file, booking pipeline, supplier contracts, insolvency protection, chargeback history, and matches the agency to EEA or UK acquirers with a current appetite for travel. We also set up the surrounding stack: an independent gateway so you are not locked to one acquirer, and settlement banking that is comfortable with travel cash flow.

We cannot guarantee approval, and we will tell you before engagement if your profile is not currently placeable. Start at xavioncapital.com/start or message us on Telegram or WhatsApp.

Frequently asked

About high risk merchant accounts.

Why is a travel agency considered high risk?: Because payment is taken long before the service is delivered. If the agency or one of its suppliers fails before the trip, customers charge back and the acquirer carries the loss. This deferred-delivery exposure, plus seasonality and third-party suppliers, puts travel on most acquirers' high risk lists regardless of the individual agency's track record.
Can a new travel agency get a merchant account in Europe?: Yes, but expect tighter terms: a rolling reserve, deferred settlement and lower initial volume caps. Specialist EEA and UK acquirers onboard new travel merchants regularly, especially where the founders have industry experience, confirmed supplier agreements and insolvency protection such as ATOL or an equivalent national scheme.
What rolling reserve should a travel agency expect?: Five to fifteen percent of turnover held for 90 to 180 days is typical for travel. New merchants and those with long booking lead times sit at the higher end. Reserves usually step down after six to twelve months of clean processing, and some acquirers accept a bank guarantee instead of cash.
My acquirer terminated my travel merchant account. What now?: First find out whether you were listed on MATCH, because that changes which providers will engage. Then apply once, honestly, to a specialist high risk acquirer with a file that explains the termination and what has changed. Do not fire off applications to multiple mainstream providers, and do not misdescribe the business to get boarded.
Does ATOL or IATA accreditation help with card processing?: Yes. Insolvency protection schemes reduce the acquirer's exposure if the agency fails, so underwriters treat accredited agencies more favourably. It will not override a poor chargeback history, but it materially improves the file for UK and EEA acquirers.

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Written and reviewed by

Kris — Partner, Xavion Capital

Partner at Xavion Capital. Runs the banking and payment-rails desk: account placement, high-risk onboarding files, and replacement banking after a termination.

Last reviewed

5 October 2026About the desk →

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