MOTO is the long-standing card-payment category where a merchant accepts card details over the phone, by post or by fax, rather than the cardholder presenting the card in person or entering it themselves online. MOTO transactions are card-not-present, carry higher interchange and demand additional fraud controls because the merchant takes responsibility for the card data they accept. They are typically processed through a virtual terminal or an agent screen.
Travel payments glossary
MOTO (mail order / telephone order)
Card payments taken without the card being present, typically over the phone or by post.
Why it matters in travel
MOTO is still common in travel — phone bookings to agents and tour operators, balances chased by the back office, complex multi-leg trips that need a human conversation. It is also where the risk of card-data leakage, mis-keyed payments and weak authentication is highest, which is why payment links increasingly replace pure MOTO keying.
The hidden cost of MOTO is what it does to PCI scope. The moment an agent reads a card number aloud, the recording system, the CRM note field and the back-office screen all enter the cardholder data environment. Auditing those edges, training the team and proving the controls are real is a meaningful annual cost — paid for every booking taken on the phone.
Done well, MOTO is a customer-led conversation that ends with an authenticated payment link rather than a recited card number. The agent gets the booking, the customer gets the convenience of help, and the card data never enters the operator’s environment. Done badly, it is a recurring source of compliance risk, fraud loss and disputes that the back office only sees months later.
How felloh helps
felloh keeps MOTO and payment-link activity inside the same booking-level finance picture, so travel teams can move customers from raw MOTO to authenticated payment links without losing context.
Where this shows up in payment collection.
MOTO (mail order / telephone order) touches more than one workflow at felloh. Start with the pages most travel teams reach for next.
- Payment Collection
Card, open banking, payment links, deposits and instalments — captured against the booking.
Explore - Payment Links
Shareable, authenticated payment links so customers pay against a specific booking without keying card details.
Explore - Embedded Checkout
Booking-aware checkout that keeps card data out of your systems and the payment trail tied to the booking.
Explore
More on collecting payments in travel.
Real-world context from the felloh team and customers, written for travel finance and operations.
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UpdatesSetting up payment links manually
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UpdatesMaking multi channel payments work across travel systems
Multi-channel friction in travel usually sits between booking, payment and finance systems. Connected payments keep finance teams in control.
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Connect the dots.
See how payments, settlement, refunds and reporting evidence connect around every booking.