‍How To Secure SEPA Payments in Travel Agencies

‍The first sign of payment fraud is usually a call from the real supplier.

Here is how it happens: your team gets an email from a hotel you work with every year. It looks real, the logo is correct, and the message sounds familiar. It says, “Our bank details have changed; please send your next payment to this new account.” Everything looks normal, so your team sends the money. 

A few weeks later, the real hotel calls and says, “We haven’t received your payment.” That is when you discover the fraud. The money has already gone to the wrong account, and getting it back can be difficult. 

The problem is that you may not discover the fraud until it is too late. With SEPA instant payments, money can reach the wrong account within seconds. To help prevent mistakes, banks check if the recipient’s name matches the bank account details before sending the money. If the details do not match, the bank shows a warning. 

Some travel agencies protect themselves with a few simple steps. They call the supplier using a trusted phone number before changing bank details. They also make sure their team knows what to do when the bank shows a warning. These small steps can help stop fraud before the money is sent. Without these checks, agencies may find out about the fraud only after losing money. 

Don’t worry! This guide will show you how to protect supplier payments, deposits, and refunds, make payments easier to manage, and choose the right payment provider for your travel agency. With the right approach to SEPA payments for travel companies, you can protect your money and manage payments more wisely as your agency grows.

Why Travel Agencies Face More SEPA Payment Risk

Travel agencies face more payment risk than most businesses, for three reasons. First, the amounts are large and paid early. Customers often pay big deposits months before they travel, so a lot of money stays in your account for a long time. Agencies can explore travel banking solutions to find banking partners familiar with the travel industry's requirements. 

Second, agencies pay many suppliers, such as hotels, airlines, and tour operators. When a supplier changes its bank account, the request usually comes by email. Fraudsters can copy these emails to trick agencies into paying the wrong account. 

Third, busy seasons put teams under pressure; when everyone is busy, it is easier to skip important checks. Fraudsters look for exactly these moments, which is why travel agencies need more care than payments in many other industries.

The 5 Biggest SEPA Payment Risks in Travel

Here are five common SEPA payment risks that travel agencies should know about. Understanding these risks can help your team spot fraud, avoid payment mistakes, and keep your money safe.

1. Fake bank detail changes: A fraudster pretends to be your supplier and emails you asking you to send future payments to a new bank account.

2. Fake or changed invoices: A fraudster creates a fake invoice or changes a real one so that the payment goes to their bank account instead of your supplier’s.

3. Refund scams: A customer claims they have paid too much and asks you to refund the extra money to a different bank account.

4. Incorrect IBANs: Someone enters the wrong IBAN by mistake, causing the payment to go to the wrong bank account.

5. Stolen login details: Fraudsters steal your online banking or booking system login details and use them to make payments without your permission.

Instant SEPA payments make these risks harder to manage because the money can reach the wrong account within seconds, leaving less time to stop or recover it.

How Verification of Payee Protects Your Agency and Where It Falls Short

Since October 2025, banks in the eurozone have been required to check whether the recipient’s name matches the IBAN before sending a SEPA payment, including instant payments. The bank shows one of four results: match, close match, no match, or verification not possible. If the result is close match or no match, stop and check the details before sending the money. 

This check helps catch typing mistakes and suspicious bank details. However, it cannot stop every type of fraud. A fraudster may use a bank account with a name that looks correct. The check also cannot tell you whether an invoice is real or fake. And if an employee ignores the warning, the payment can still go through.

Sometimes, genuine payments can also trigger a warning. That is why travel agencies should not rely on this check alone. Always check unusual payment requests, confirm changes to supplier bank details by calling the supplier, and never ignore a bank warning without checking the details first.

Best Practices for Keeping SEPA Payments Secure

Travel agencies use SEPA payments to pay hotels, airlines, and tour operators across Europe. However, without proper checks, your business may face payment fraud, incorrect transfers, or unauthorised refunds. Here are the key steps that you can follow to keep your payments secure and protected:  

1. Check Bank Details Before Sending Money:

‍Always check the supplier’s IBAN and account name before making a payment. If a supplier emails you new bank details, call them on a number you already have to confirm the change. Never rely on the email alone.

2. Choose the Right SEPA Payment Provider:

‍Choose a payment provider that offers bank account checks, secure payment approvals, and clear transaction reports. These features help you check payment details and keep track of your money.‍

3. Keep Your Payment Accounts Secure:

‍Use strong passwords and two-factor authentication to protect your payment accounts. Give employees access only to the features they need, and remove access when they no longer need it.‍

4. Get Large Payments Checked:

‍Ask another team member to check large or unusual payments before they are sent. This can help you catch mistakes, duplicate invoices, or suspicious requests.

5. Check Your Payments Regularly:

‍Look at your bank statements for payments sent twice or transfers you don’t recognise. If something looks wrong, tell your bank right away.

6. Check Refund Requests Carefully:

‍Before refunding a customer, check the original payment and confirm that the request is genuine. Follow the same checks for every refund to avoid sending money to the wrong person.

7. Use Instant Transfers Only When Needed:

‍Regular SEPA transfers are suitable for most supplier payments, while SEPA Instant transfers are useful when money needs to arrive quickly. Also check all payment details before confirming a transfer, as it can be difficult to recover money sent to the wrong account.

How to Streamline SEPA Payments in Travel Agencies

To streamline SEPA payments in travel agencies, reduce the amount of work your team has to do manually. Give each booking a unique payment reference and ask customers to include it when they pay. This helps your team know which booking each payment belongs to.

You can also use a virtual IBAN for each customer or booking, if your payment provider offers it , making it easier to organise incoming transfers and manage global payment operations. A virtual IBAN is a unique bank account number that helps identify who a payment is for. This makes it easier to match payments to the right bookings and saves time while checking bank statements. This way, your team spends less time checking bank statements and can spot missing or incorrect payments more easily. 

How to Automate SEPA Payments in Travel Agencies

Once your payment process is set up, you can automate your regular tasks to save time. For example, you can use bulk payment files to pay several suppliers at once instead of making each payment separately. Keep the bank’s name check enabled so it can warn you if the recipient’s name does not match the bank account details before you send the payment.

You can set up alerts to notify your team when a supplier’s bank details change, a payment is larger than usual, or a payment is made at an unusual time. You can also automatically match incoming payments to the correct bookings, so your team does not have to check each payment manually.

Automation saves time, but your team should still review bank warnings and unusual payments before approving them.

How to Scale SEPA Payments in Travel Agencies

As your travel agency grows, you will need to manage more payments without losing control over them. Start by giving different people different responsibilities. For example, one person can prepare payments, while another checks and approves them. You can also set clear approval limits for large payments to reduce the risk of fraud.

Keep track of failed or returned payments and the reasons they failed. This helps your team find repeated problems and fix them. If you work with suppliers in different countries, check whether they accept euros or require payments in other currencies, as cross-border payment solutions can help businesses manage international transfers more efficiently. 

Finally, make sure your bank or payment provider can handle the growing number of payments your agency makes. A service that works well for a small agency may not have all the features you need as your business grows.

How FirmEU Helps Travel Businesses Find the Right SEPA Provider

Choosing the right payment provider helps travel agencies manage payments safely and easily. When choosing a provider for SEPA payments for travel companies, look for the one that offers regular and instant bank transfers, SEPA Direct Debit, bank account name checks, bulk payments, and clear payment reports. It is also helpful to choose a provider that understands the needs of travel businesses.

However, some banks consider travel businesses high-risk, which can make it harder for agencies to get approved for payment services.

We help travel businesses find banks and payment providers that suit their needs. Remember, FirmEU is not a bank and does not handle payments. It connects travel agencies with suitable providers, but each provider decides whether to approve the business.

Protect Every Booking Payment with the Right SEPA Setup

Safe payments start with two habits: check every change of bank details, and never ignore a name check warning. You also need a bank or payment provider that works with travel, and many do not.

FirmEU can help. Tell us about your agency, and we will introduce you to providers that support SEPA payments for travel companies. Each provider makes its own approval decision.

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