This whitepaper explains:
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Travel is an ultra-high-risk sector for card acquirers because most payments are for future delivery. If merchants fail to fulfill a service for which they have taken payment (often months in advance) customers can recover their money from the acquirer by initiating chargeback.
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Acquirers traditionally demand substantial cash collateral (holdbacks) or other financial security from travel merchants to mitigate this risk.
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Holdbacks lock away substantial funds for travel companies and can therefore be highly damaging to liquidity.
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High-profile collapses and the COVID-19 crisis have driven acquirers to impose harsher terms or quit the travel sector completely.