Cruise Line Merchant Accounts

Credit Card Processing for Cruise Lines

Owners of cruise line companies do everything in their power to satisfy their clientele. From hassle-free travel to the latest on boat amenities, every detail must be carefully planned in order to build relationships that lead to repeat business and referrals. This includes billing and payment practices, as cruise passengers want to be assured that their transactions are completed quickly, conveniently, and securely. Due to the nature of the business, however, companies may find it difficult to open a cruise line merchant account that meets their needs.

What could be more memorable or fulfilling than a vacation across the open ocean in a tropical setting visiting one resort destination after another? As a cruise line vacation service, your clientèle count on you to provide a once in a lifetime experience that takes them far away from the worry and stress of their daily responsibilities. To deliver, you need fast and reliable credit card processing services from your cruise line merchant account provider.

Unfortunately, the cruise industry has been labeled a high risk market by many of the one-size-fits-all merchant account providers. This is due to a number of reasons, some of which are special to the type of business you are in and others are due to factors that apply to everyone.

First of all, the vacation cruise industry is prone to a number of delays, irregularities, and challenges in the area of accounts receivable. While many other merchants face the same issues- that doesn’t change the fact that your cruise line credit card processing partner perceives you as a risk. Even when payments are collected upfront for a cruise package, because of the delay between the purchase and the trip’s date, many things can happen to cause the customer to issue a chargeback. While, in reality, this tends to be just a minor set back- to banking institutions these kinds of issues pile up very rapidly.

That means, when you apply for your cruise line merchant services account, at a traditional, non-specialized merchant service provider, you will be turned down repeatedly, pay exorbitant processing rates or end up with processing services that do not meet your business’ needs. While this may seem unfair, it is simply a fact of life that these generic merchant account providers and other financial institutions are simply not equipped, knowledgeable ot willing enough to handle the cruise line industry.

The barriers we have mentioned so far are not going to go away anytime soon. But there’s more. As the global economy rapidly shifts from cash payments to almost exclusively credit and debit based payment systems- the need to accept credit card payments, whether it be face to face, MOTO or e-commerce, has become drastically more important to a business’ success. We believe your business has the right to fair and effective credit card processing as much as any other business does.

Challenges Cruise Lines Face with Payment Processing

Cruise line travel is considered a high-risk industry because of the high-ticket value and exposure to risk. At the same time, companies operating in this space require online credit card processing solutions in order to ensure passengers can book their travel without hassle. Customers that choose cruise lines for travel may also require flexible billing that works with their business budget, which can turn some processors away from issuing companies a cruise line merchant account. Some obstacles cruise businesses face include:

• High-Value Transactions
• Irregular Billing Schedules
• Online Reservations and Advanced Scheduling
• Risk of Chargebacks and Cancellations

Leap Payments understands the challenges your company faces and is committed to working with you to create a credit card processing solution that provides you and your clients with the best payment options.

Since cruise passengers prefer to pay by credit card rather than cash or check, we work with companies on building an online credit card processing program that integrates easily with their reservation system. Card readers can also be installed for your physical location. We are committed to helping each of our partners succeed and are here to help your business understand everything from your monthly statements to finding ways to lower your chargeback rates. Leap Payments also does not sign contracts – we continually work to earn your business each and every day.

Learn more about the Leap Payments advantage and take the first step toward opening your cruise line merchant account today. Contact a representative directly for more information.

Here at Leap Payments, we have dedicated ourselves to understanding the issues faced by the cruise line industry and created a network of banking partnerships and processing services to fit your needs. We built our system and our teams around the very thing that makes traditional credit card processors uncomfortable; unwavering support for high risk merchant accounts. We do everything in our power to give you the best possible chance of being approved, and we never keep you waiting.

When you apply for your cruise line payment processing account, you can expect to hear back from us within 24 hours. We will walk you through the process to eliminate as much risk as possible. Our goal is to get your account online so that you can get on with what you do best, serving your customers