Holdback

Why it matters in travel

Travel acquirers often impose holdbacks because customer money is taken months before departure and a supplier failure can trigger large chargeback waves. The holdback affects working capital and, ultimately, how much cash a travel business has available for supplier payments.

A holdback is the acquirer’s price for accepting forward exposure. The size and term are negotiated against the perceived risk of supplier failure, chargeback velocity and refund volume — which means a travel business that can demonstrate clean evidence on all three has a stronger case for a lower hold. The number itself is significant: a 5% holdback on a £20m brand is £1m of cash deferred.

Travel businesses that manage holdbacks well treat them as part of working-capital planning, not as a fixed cost of doing business. They renegotiate during contract review with booking-level evidence, they shift volume between acquirers where the holdback differs materially, and they model the cash impact alongside the cost impact when comparing offers.

How felloh helps

felloh keeps holdback movements visible alongside the underlying settlement so finance teams can plan operating cash and supplier payments against what is actually available rather than what was sold.

The Settlement and Risk Analysis views in the dashboard expose holdback movements against the underlying bookings, with the build-up, release and net impact tracked over time. The Cashflow view rolls the available position up so supplier-payment planning sees real cash rather than topline takings.

For travel finance leaders negotiating with acquirers about reserves, the evidence sits ready. The chargeback ratio, supplier exposure and refund handling that the underwriter cares about are all visible in the same dashboard, so the conversation starts from data rather than apology.