Travel is a big part of life for a lot of people all over the world. Many people work hard and save up the money they earn to spend on trips around the world or family vacations to exotic destinations, and this can be a very enlightening and rewarding experience in many different ways, giving people the chance to broaden their horizons and make memories with their nearest and dearest along the way.
The High Risk Timeshare IndustrySo what is a timeshare? A timeshare is essentially a vacation property whose ownership is divided between multiple people or parties. For example, a cabin near a ski resort could be a timeshare, with several owners that, as the name implies, share their time in the cabin. Each owner is given a set amount of time that they can use the property throughout the year.
For example, if the aforementioned cabin has 12 owners, each one might have a month of the year that they can use it for. These kinds of vacation properties can be really popular, as they can offer great value for money, essentially allowing people to part-own and use their own vacation homes without having to pay the full cost of luxury property to do so.
Timeshare business owners are responsible for selling and managing these kinds of properties, dealing with maintenance issues, ensuring that all clients adhere to the terms and conditions of their agreements for the timeshare, collecting payments, and so on. And in order to collect payments and manage timeshares effectively, you need to have a timeshare merchant account.
So what is a timeshare merchant account and how do these kinds of accounts work? Well, in order to understand that, you first have to understand the basics of merchant accounts and know how they are used by different businesses across the globe; a merchant account is basically a business account for receiving electronic card payments.
Without a merchant account, it’s impossible to receive these kinds of payments. So you have to have one if you want to be able to take payments from customers and clients with their credit or debit cards, either online or over the phone. And in the timeshare industry, that’s particularly relevant, as a lot of timeshare bookings and transactions happen on the internet nowadays.
With a timeshare merchant account in place, customers and travelers can pay you directly using your own online payment portal or website. The money will travel from their account into the merchant account for safe, secure processing before continuing on to your main business account. It’s a really simple and seamless process, allowing you and your customers to conduct business as conveniently as possible.
If you want to run a timeshare business or manage a timeshare property, you’ll need to have a timeshare merchant account to do so. Unfortunately, getting one of these accounts can be a challenge, and many banks believe that timeshare businesses are too risky to deal with. So they don’t offer any kind of timeshare merchant accounts or services at all.
Why is this? And why are timeshares considered to be so risky? Well, in fact, a lot of businesses in the travel sector are classed as “high risk”, and many travel companies can struggle to get the merchant accounts they need to operate. This is because the travel industry involves a lot of big payments and can be very unpredictable, as travelers’ circumstances are always subject to change.
This can lead to a lot of chargebacks in the travel industry, and timeshare businesses, in particular, can have to deal with huge amounts of chargebacks. A chargeback is when a cardholder requests to have their money refunded for goods or services they’ve purchased with their card. They might do this because they aren’t satisfied with the service received, for example, or they may have buyers remorse and regret spending so much on their travel expenses.
All of this can result in a lot of extra fees and problems for timeshare businesses. Plus, there’s a greater-than-average risk of these kinds of businesses failing, as the travel industry can be so volatile and subject to sudden changes. This all makes it very difficult to get a timeshare merchant account from many banks and financial institutions.
Because of the various risks and problems associated with timeshare businesses, it can be tricky to open your own timeshare merchant account and get a positive response to any timeshare merchant account applications you send out to local banks. So what can you do if you need a merchant account for your timeshare business but don’t know where to get one?
Well, Shark Processing can help you with that. At Shark Processing, we lead the way when it comes to high risk credit card processing and high risk payment processing, and we specialize in providing high risk merchant accounts for businesses that are deemed to be too risky to work with by the majority of banks and financial institutions.
We work together with our own exclusive network of trusted banks and payment processors who can offer the merchant accounts and services you need to grow your business. And we’ll help you get a timeshare merchant account with the right rates and terms to meet your needs. Get in touch with the Shark Processing team today to find out more about how we can help you.
