Hello, let me introduce myself, the names Emmanuel (Eman for short).
I joined this space to discuss how to become a travel writer as a complete beginner with little writing experience?
I just want to dip my feet in the water so to say but I don't know where to start, I am passionate about traveling, I've lived in Ohio for most of my life and recently moved to Massachusetts, it was my first time living away from home and it changed my life, right now I just want to do more of that and be able to make a living traveling full time, is this possible or just a dream?
Looking forward to your tips.
Let me know!
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Who can recommend a great Payment Processor that accepts global cards and works with the travel industry?
I'm looking mainly EEA or US Payment Processors.
www.wetravel.com ;)
Thanks Alex. They look interesting. I'll chase them down to see if they offer their Payment Processing service as a separate item.
No worries! I have been looking around and I have come across this: www.trustmytravel.com. I have not used this payment process getaway, but I know that Bokun and Rezdy booking engines use them. As Peter mentioned below; it would be interesting to know more about the criteria for your implementation. ;)
Do you have first hand experience with them Alex? (I've found websites without prices tend to have very expensive solutions)
I agree with you Mark. The pricing and structure should be clear and visible. I have not use them or have experience with it. I’m also looking around for a customer. I have used WeTravel & TrekkPay (Trekksoft) as I can not find a good stand alone service to process credit cards.
Looking around I found this: “Trust My Travel’s IC++(P) Pricing “ :
(IC)(+)(+) Breakdown:
(IC = Interchange) (+ = Scheme Fees) (+ = Acquirer’s Fee)
As an example, a merchant account provider may provide you with a pricing structure which is IC++ 0.4%. This means, they will pass on the hard costs for the interchange (the IC) and the Scheme (first ‘+’), and charge you 0.4% on the transaction volume (the second ‘+’). In most cases, a separate per transaction fee is also applied.
help.trustmytravel.com/getting-started/your-pricing/
I've requested some pricing from them. Some other Payment Processors also work on the IC++ model.
Awesome! Keep us posted. ;)
Pretty hard to go past Stripe for payment processing. Easily the nicest developer experience of the ones I've worked with.
Not sure what criteria you need that would be specific to travel. Could you elaborate more on that maybe?
Travel isn't a favourite industry for payment processors it seems and apart from the fact that Stripe is so expensive they also have a habit of turning off marketplaces and travel industry clients without notice. I'm seeking an alternative to Stripe to avoid any disruption.
Square is probably the next most convenient processor I've used. Don't think it's any cheaper though and the developer experience is just not as good (eg, nothing like Stripe CLI). It's also not quite as well supported internationally (eg, wallet payments will only work in US, CA, UK).
We use stripe connect as Briskby is a two sided markeplace, therefore we need a gateway with a global support.
You could look into Rapyd if you need to provide global payments but we have no experience with it yet.
Thanks Alessandro - Rapyd as certainly one of the cheapest around. Will check their FX rates now.
Stripe is quite travel-friendly and one of the fastest platforms to get up and running with from a development perspective. Their CONNECT and other products allow you to shift risk in extremely compelling ways, simplifying payments as you go along.
If you're looking at flights, don't forget Duffel has a built-in payments feature which simplifies much of the flight elements.
Thanks Kevin. Stripe unfortunately have been turning off some travel & marketplace sites without notice. As they're amongst the most expensive player in the US (yet cheapest in UK) and I'm very cautious about putting all our eggs in one basket.
Hey Mark - indeed. Some processors have specific lines in their T&Cs about businesses that are "sellers of travel," which may need to show various criteria are met before they will agree to process payments for you. I've used TMT in a previous position and had mostly good interactions. It's been several years since then but I recall their pricing being good but not necessarily the absolute cheapest. They were, at that time, amicable to bundling several of our locations so that our transaction volume increased to a more favorable rate. They always seemed keen to jump on a call and see how they could meet our needs.
Great feedback Charles - thank you. There's certainly a wide difference in approaches I'm finding. Covid's effects on travel may have scared a few players away from the market. I'm also finding 'marketplaces' are another category that many are avoiding. I've managed to get one bank to re-open our application. From their questions they clearly didn't read our brief though.
Don't undervalue the power of relationship. I think the threat of being de-platformed can come with any SAAS provider, and your rate actually have the same mitigation: a good relationship. I've found Stripe great to deal with down the years.
When it comes to the "marketplace" story, some merchant solutions will outright not take your call. There are two approaches to mitigating this: challenge your business model and shop around.
Skipping the "shop around" for now, the benefits start with challenging your business model (fee structure, terms and conditions for the end user, disbursement terms). You'll probably find better tax treatment too (if you're in the US, there are now marketplace "nexus" complexities). Avoid "travel agent" status if possible and instead opting for transparent fees for example.
You might find by the time you've examined this that you might fit into a different risk category for your payment provider of choice.
I had a tough time finding a solution and recently started using WeTravel. It's working pretty well so far, it solves many of my problems. They use a Stripe integration for credit cards but once you're verified you can process ACH transfers for "free" (only paying the 1% WT fee that applies to any transaction). I also use Wise Business accounts; not for payment processing but helps a lot with receiving money and/or paying international suppliers. Happy to chat further or answer questions if you want!
Thanks Hilary, that's the same experience we're having. I've tried contacting WeTravel but they are a bit weird. Didn't want to talk.
As a global player we're not that interested in country specific solutions like US ACH transfers - its mainly credit cards we're looking at.
At this stage in ReforestPay doesn't manage to find a good acquiring bank we'll stay with our Australian provider PinPayments who now accept settlement in many countries to Wise accounts. I do like the Reforestpay rates and the fact they plant a tree for every transaction though.
We might stream US payments via Stripe though as local US cards are 1% cheaper with Stripe than processing in Australia.
I hear you, each situation is a little unique (and always its own flavor of complicated). We are a US-based company and we have a great bank that caters to startups (free international and domestic wires, for example) so the combo of WT + Stripe + Wise + Bank is working... but holy cow, it was not a fun workflow to figure out.
I am going to follow this thread to see if you get any other helpful solutions. Kind of crazy that it still seems to be such a big problem for so many in the travel industry and there's not *something* out there that helps all of us?!
Good luck - sending you good vibes! And if you want my contact at WT (who is responsive, at least!) here it is: Mary Grant <mary.grant@wetravel.com>