Best business bank account for travel agencies

How money moves through a travel agency

A travel agency collects money from travelers weeks or months before a trip and pays airlines, hotels, tour operators and ground handlers on their own dates, often in other currencies. Its margin is usually a commission or a markup of a few percent on the trip price. That combination puts the bank account at the center of the business: large sums of client money pass through it, most of it owed to someone else, and small fees on each payment come straight out of a thin margin.

Source: Helm Editorial Team, describing common travel agency payment flows, as published on 29 October 2026.

A destination management company (DMC) is a local firm that arranges transfers, guides, excursions and events at the destination, and usually invoices in its local currency. SWIFT is the network banks use for international wires. ACH is the US batch bank transfer network. ARC and BSP are explained in the next section.

Most published comparisons of business bank accounts score monthly fees, branches and sign-up bonuses. For a travel agency, three other things matter more: whether client money is held the way the law requires, what it costs to pay suppliers abroad in their currency, and whether the account can cover airline settlement on the due date.

Airline settlement: ARC in the US, IATA BSP elsewhere

Agencies that issue airline tickets themselves do not pay each airline separately. In the US, the Airlines Reporting Corporation (ARC) accredits agencies and settles ticket sales between agencies and airlines. Outside the US, the IATA Billing and Settlement Plan (BSP) does the same job. IATA is the International Air Transport Association, the airlines' trade body. Both systems collect what the agency owes for tickets sold on set dates, which makes the agency's bank account part of the airline's payment chain.

Sources: ARC, information on agency accreditation and IATA fact sheet on financial services, as published on 29 October 2026.

A letter of credit or bond for ARC is a financial guarantee from a bank or insurer that the airlines can call on if the agency does not pay. A bank that issues the letter of credit usually asks for collateral or a credit line, so the choice of bank and the accreditation application are linked. A cash deposit ties up the same amount of working capital.

The practical rule is simple. Know your settlement calendar, keep the amount due on each date in the account that settlement draws on, and never use money received for a trip that has not yet been ticketed to cover a settlement for another client. Agencies without their own accreditation, which sell air through a consolidator or host agency, pay that partner on its terms instead.

Holding client money: trust accounts and seller of travel rules

Several US states regulate sellers of travel, and some require client payments to be held in a trust account, a bank account in which money is held for the benefit of the clients rather than the business. California's rules are the most widely cited, and the California Attorney General's Seller of Travel Program publishes how they work.

Source: California Attorney General, Sellers of Travel frequently asked questions, citing Business and Professions Code section 17550 et seq., as published on 29 October 2026.

The rule against using one passenger's money for another passenger's travel applies to every California seller, trust account or not. In practice, that means recording each client payment against its booking and paying each supplier from the money received for that booking. An account with sub-accounts, or a ledger that ties every payment to a booking reference, makes this far easier to prove.

Rules differ by state and by country, and they can depend on where the customer lives as well as where the agency is based. Take advice on the rules that apply to you, and confirm with any bank or provider that the account you plan to use meets them before client money goes into it.

Paying hotels and ground suppliers abroad

Hotels, DMCs and tour operators abroad usually invoice in their own currency: euros in Italy, pounds in the UK, pesos in Mexico, baht in Thailand. Paying them in that currency avoids their bank converting the money at its own rate and avoids a short payment if intermediary banks deduct fees from a USD wire. The cost to the agency is then the conversion margin plus any payment fee.

Source: Helm Editorial Team calculation from each provider's pricing page (Aspire, Wise, Airwallex, WorldFirst, Payoneer, Mercury), as published on 29 October 2026. "From" figures are the lowest published rate.

On a margin of a few percent, the difference between a 1% and a 0.25% conversion is a large share of the profit on an overseas booking. Agencies that know they will owe a fixed amount in euros at a future date can also ask about a forward contract, which fixes the exchange rate today for a payment later, so a currency move between booking and payment does not erase the margin.

Many hotels and suppliers accept virtual cards: card numbers issued for a single booking or supplier, with a set limit. They suit prepaid hotel stays and small supplier bills. Check the foreign fee: Airwallex publishes multi-currency corporate cards with zero international fees, Slash charges 1% (minimum $0.40) and Mercury 3% on non-USD card transactions. For larger supplier invoices, a bank transfer in the supplier's currency is usually cheaper. Our guide to SWIFT fees: OUR, SHA and BEN explains which charge option makes the full amount arrive.

Collecting from travelers: cards, transfers and refunds

Travelers often want to pay by card, and for a high-value trip the card fee can exceed the agency's margin. The table shows published costs for collecting a payment.

Source: Helm Editorial Team calculation from Stripe pricing, Airwallex pricing and Mercury pricing, as published on 29 October 2026.

Many agencies take the deposit by card and ask for the final balance by bank transfer, or add a card surcharge where the law and card network rules allow it. Card payments also carry chargeback risk: a traveler can dispute a charge with the card issuer, and the processor may hold back part of the agency's sales as a reserve against disputes on trips that have not yet taken place. Plan cash flow around money that has settled, not money that has been authorized.

Clients who pay from abroad should be given local details in their own currency where possible. A European traveler paying a euro IBAN, the account format used across Europe, by SEPA transfer usually pays nothing and the full amount arrives. SEPA is the euro area's bank transfer network.

What to check before choosing an account for a travel agency

1. Client money rules. Whether your state or country requires a trust account or bond, and whether the account you plan to use meets that requirement.
2. Settlement capacity. If you are ARC or IATA accredited, a bank that can issue the letter of credit or accept the cash deposit, and an account that settlement can draw on reliably.
3. Sub-accounts or booking-level tracking. A way to show which client money paid which supplier.
4. A published conversion margin. A percentage above a named reference rate, with forward contracts if you pay suppliers months after booking.
5. Local payments to supplier countries. Local transfers in the currencies you pay most, with the fee and arrival time shown before sending.
6. Virtual cards. Cards per booking or per supplier, with limits and no or low foreign fees.
7. Card acceptance costs. Published domestic and international card rates, and how reserves and chargebacks are handled.
8. Payment controls. Dual approval for large supplier payments and call-back checks on any change of supplier bank details.

Supplier payment fraud is common in travel because agencies pay many suppliers abroad whom they rarely meet. A fraudster who sends an email that looks like it is from a hotel or DMC, with new bank details, can divert a whole group booking. Confirm any change by phone using a number from the supplier's contract or website, never one in the email.

Independent rankings: the BCC Trade Banking Index

The BCC Trade Banking Index 2026 scores 27 providers out of 100 using only their published terms. It ranks importers, exporters, and wholesalers and distributors, and has no travel ranking. A travel agency buys services from suppliers abroad, so the importers ranking, which weights paying suppliers at 30% and FX cost at 25%, is the closest fit. The protection criterion, which covers legal status, where funds are held and deposit protection or safeguarding, matters to any business holding client money. Disclosure: Buckingham Capital Consulting (BCC), which publishes the Index, is a Helm group company. Helm is scored in the 2026 edition by the same published method as every other provider.

Source: BCC Trade Banking Index 2026, facts read by BCC on 21 October 2026 from each provider's own pages, as published on 29 October 2026. BCC is a Helm group company. Helm, a group company of the Index publisher, is scored in the Index and is not shown in this table.

Airwallex leads the importers ranking among the providers shown, scoring 5 out of 5 on paying suppliers, with Wise Business, the only one in the top three to score 4 on FX cost, close behind. HSBC UK is the only provider shown scoring 5 on protection, as a bank with deposit protection, but it accepts only UK tax residents. An agency that must hold client money in a trust account at a bank may use a bank for that account and a payment account for supplier payments abroad.

Where Helm fits, and setting up the accounts

Helm is a financial technology company, not a bank; accounts are held with regulated partner institutions, and its US dollar account services are provided by Bridge Building, Inc. (NMLS ID 2450917), a licensed money transmitter, with customer funds held at Lead Bank. For a travel business it provides USD account details in the company's own name that receive ACH, Fedwire and SWIFT, plus EUR details (IBAN, SEPA and SWIFT) and GBP details (sort code, Faster Payments and SWIFT), so travelers and partners in those currencies can pay by domestic transfer. Payments to hotels and suppliers go by SWIFT or by local rails in the supplier's currency where available, with the rate, fee and expected arrival shown before sending. A named account manager answers review questions in writing within one business day.

Helm agrees pricing with each business in writing before the account opens, and shows the rate, the fee and the expected arrival before you confirm each payment. If your state requires a trust account for client money, confirm that any account meets that requirement before you use it for client funds. For holding several currencies in one place, see our guide to the best multi-currency business account.

1. Booking references on every payment. Quote the booking reference on client invoices and on each supplier payment.
2. A settlement calendar. List airline settlement dates and large supplier due dates, and check the balance two days before each.
3. Currency balances that match your destinations. Hold the currencies you pay most, and convert when you know the amount due.
4. Verified supplier details. Keep a list of supplier bank details confirmed by phone, and pay a small first amount to any new supplier.
5. Keep the old account open. Leave it open until all trips paid into it have been completed and refunds settled.

Questions

References

1. ARC: information on agency accreditation for airlines
2. IATA: fact sheet, IATA financial services
3. California Attorney General: Sellers of Travel frequently asked questions
4. Stripe: pricing (US)
5. Airwallex: pricing (US)
6. Wise: Wise Business pricing (US)
7. Mercury: pricing
8. Buckingham Capital Consulting: Global Trade Banking Index 2026

This guide is general information for businesses, not financial, legal or tax advice. Rules, fees and timings were checked against the sources listed on the review date and may change.