The SSLCommerz payment gateway is now integrated into PHPTRAVELS and ships in the latest software update. Bangladesh travel agencies, tour operators and OTAs can take online payments through their own SSLCommerz merchant account, with no custom gateway build.
Your customers can pay for flights, hotels and tours with the cards and mobile banking apps they already use. Below: what the integration includes, how to switch it on, what to test before going live and how to reconcile payments.
What’s new: SSLCommerz is now built into PHPTRAVELS
The SSLCommerz payment gateway has joined the pre-integrated gateways in PHPTRAVELS, alongside Stripe, PayPal, Adyen, Cashfree, Paystack, Flutterwave, MyFatoorah and the other providers on the PHPTRAVELS integrations page.
It is aimed at Bangladesh agencies, tour operators, OTAs and B2B agencies selling flights, hotels, tours or visas. Until now, an existing PHPTRAVELS client who wanted local payments through SSLCommerz needed a custom gateway integration. With the latest update, it is already in the software.
How the money flows
Each agency connects its own SSLCommerz merchant account. Customer payments are processed by SSLCommerz and settle to that account under the agency’s agreement with the provider.
PHPTRAVELS is the booking software and gateway configuration layer. It is not the merchant of record, does not collect your booking revenue and takes no commission on bookings.
On its official website, SSLCommerz describes itself as “the largest payment gateway aggregator in Bangladesh” and says it has worked in the country’s fintech industry since 2010.
Payment methods your customers can use through SSLCommerz
According to the SSLCommerz overview and its pricing page, the SSLCommerz payment gateway supports:
- Debit, credit and prepaid cards, including Visa, Mastercard and American Express (AMEX)
- Mobile banking, including bKash, Nagad and Rocket
- Internet banking
- E-wallets
- EMI (instalments) on eligible credit cards from participating banks
The options your customers see depend on the channels activated on your SSLCommerz merchant account, so confirm with SSLCommerz that the cards and wallets you plan to promote are switched on, especially bKash and Nagad.
EMI for high-value travel packages
According to the SSLCommerz FAQ, an eligible customer selects “Avail EMI” at payment and picks an instalment period. SSLCommerz says the payment is converted to EMI within five to seven working days, and a payment made as a regular transaction cannot be converted later.
That matters for Umrah and family packages. Because availability depends on the bank, the card and your activated channels, confirm the conditions before you advertise instalments.
Currency: BDT at the gateway
SSLCommerz accepts transaction requests in currencies such as BDT, USD and EUR, and its developer documentation says non-BDT amounts are converted to Bangladeshi taka at the current rate.
Gateway conversion is not the same as multi-currency selling on your website. In PHPTRAVELS, Startup and Agency plans run a single storefront currency, while Enterprise supports multiple currencies. If most of your customers are in Bangladesh, setting BDT as the site currency keeps prices, payments and reconciliation aligned. Selling to other markets? See our guide to multi-currency travel booking software.
How to enable SSLCommerz in PHPTRAVELS, step by step
You need an updated PHPTRAVELS installation and valid credentials for the SSLCommerz payment gateway. Always finish a sandbox test before taking real money.
| Step | Where | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Update | app.phptravels.com > Orders | Backup taken, site and admin load after update |
| 2. Credentials | SSLCommerz sandbox and merchant signup | Separate sandbox and live Store IDs |
| 3. Enable | Admin > Settings > Payment Gateways | Gateway on, environment matches credentials |
| 4. Sandbox test | Your booking website | Success page, booking status, payment record, SSLCommerz panel |
| 5. Go live | Payment Gateways + live merchant account | Production mode, live credentials, one small real booking |
Step 1: Install the latest PHPTRAVELS update
Read the changelog, back up your files and database, and note your .env settings and Order ID. Sign in to your PHPTRAVELS client account, open Orders, download the latest package for your licence, upload it and run the update. Clear caches and confirm the site and admin load. The official update instructions cover each step.
Enterprise includes lifetime updates. On Startup and Agency, updates are bought separately when you need them; check your plan on the PHPTRAVELS pricing page before downloading.
Step 2: Get your SSLCommerz credentials
The gateway connects with a Store ID and a Store Password. For testing, register for an SSLCommerz sandbox account. For real transactions, apply for a live merchant account and complete the provider’s activation steps.
SSLCommerz issues separate Store IDs for sandbox and live, so keep the two sets apart and never put live credentials into the test environment.
Step 3: Enable SSLCommerz in the admin panel
In your PHPTRAVELS admin, go to Settings, then Payment Gateways (wording may vary slightly by version). Turn on the SSLCommerz payment gateway, open its settings and choose the development or sandbox environment.
Paste the sandbox Store ID and Store Password into the matching fields, using the exact labels shown in your admin, and save. If your admin offers a credential test, run it and confirm the environment matches the credentials you entered.
Step 4: Run a sandbox booking
On your public website, book a real product such as a flight, hotel or tour and choose SSLCommerz at payment. Pay with the test cards listed in the SSLCommerz developer documentation; sandbox transactions have no accounting effect. Then check four things:
- The customer lands on the expected success page.
- The booking status in PHPTRAVELS is correct.
- A matching payment record appears in PHPTRAVELS.
- The transaction shows in the SSLCommerz sandbox merchant panel.
A success page alone is not proof; if any of the four does not match, fix the configuration first.
Step 5: Switch to production and go live
Once SSLCommerz activates your live merchant account, return to Payment Gateways, switch the environment to production and enter your live Store ID and Store Password. Confirm that return URLs and any notification settings point to your live domain.
Make one small real booking, check it in both systems and refund it if needed. Remove the sandbox credentials from the live configuration. The PHPTRAVELS payment gateway documentation has the general go-live checklist.
Travel-specific checks before you take live payments
Travel payments carry risks a normal online shop does not have: fares change, group bills get large and tickets are hard to pull back once issued. Review these points before the SSLCommerz payment gateway takes its first live booking.
Server TLS compatibility
The SSLCommerz payment gateway accepts only TLS 1.2 or higher. Because PHPTRAVELS is self-hosted, run the test command from the SSLCommerz developer documentation on the server that hosts your installation:
curl "https://sandbox.sslcommerz.com/public/tls/" -v
The response should include “TLS is okay”. If it does not, ask your hosting provider to fix the TLS configuration before you take live payments.
Transaction limits on large group bookings
The SSLCommerz API documentation sets each transaction between BDT 10 and BDT 500,000, and its FAQ adds that the limit depends on the acquiring bank. Group Umrah bookings, family holidays and corporate trips can go over that in a single payment.
For these, take a deposit and then the balance, or use the bank transfer and pay later options PHPTRAVELS already supports.
Re-check fares before payment
Airline fares and hotel rates can change between search and checkout, so confirm the current price and availability with the supplier before the customer is sent to SSLCommerz. Our article on booking revalidation in travel APIs explains why that fresh supplier check matters.
This overview of how a travel booking engine re-checks price and availability before checkout shows where price confirmation sits in the booking flow.
Payments flagged as risky
SSLCommerz returns a risk level with each transaction. Its documentation says that when the risk level is 1, the merchant should hold the transaction and verify the customer, even if the status is valid. The FAQ lists foreign cards and cards that do not use 3D Secure as common reasons.
For an agency, the practical rule is simple: don’t issue the airline ticket or hotel voucher until a flagged payment has been checked. Our guide to travel booking payment security covers related fraud and chargeback risks.
“Payment pending” cases
SSLCommerz uses Instant Payment Notification (IPN) to report payment results to merchant systems, and says that when IPN is set up it keeps retrying until the correct status reaches your system.
Ask PHPTRAVELS support whether your installation needs an IPN URL entered in the SSLCommerz merchant panel under My Store, then IPN Settings. If a customer says they paid but the booking still shows pending, check the SSLCommerz transaction panel before you cancel or re-issue anything.
Refunds, chargebacks and daily reconciliation
Requesting an SSLCommerz refund
Refunds on the SSLCommerz payment gateway are made through its merchant panel: open the transaction, view its details, choose the refund request option and enter the amount. Entering less than the original payment makes it a partial refund, which suits cancellations where supplier penalties apply.
According to the SSLCommerz FAQ, the customer receives the money within five to seven working days, so tell travellers that up front. This is the SSLCommerz panel method; confirm with PHPTRAVELS support before assuming refunds can be started from the PHPTRAVELS admin.
Chargebacks
If a customer disputes a payment, SSLCommerz asks for proof that the service was delivered and passes it to the acquiring bank. Keep e-tickets, hotel vouchers and confirmation emails attached to the right booking reference.
Daily reconciliation
At the end of each day, match every completed PHPTRAVELS booking (reference, amount and status) against its SSLCommerz transaction ID. Settlement reports can be downloaded from the Accounting tab of the SSLCommerz merchant portal.
Allow for SSLCommerz payment gateway charges when settlements land. At the time of writing, the SSLCommerz pricing page lists 2.5% per successful transaction and 3.5% for AMEX; confirm your rates with SSLCommerz.
If your finance team still matches invoices and payments by hand, a back-office tool such as Travel CRM System can keep invoices, outstanding dues and received payments in one place, which makes the daily comparison with SSLCommerz settlement reports quicker. For the wider picture, read our article on travel accounting systems integration.
SSLCommerz payment gateway and PHPTRAVELS: FAQ
Do I need my own SSLCommerz merchant account?
Yes. Each agency needs its own SSLCommerz merchant account, and payments settle to that account, not to PHPTRAVELS. You apply, receive the credentials and manage the merchant relationship yourself.
What does SSLCommerz charge?
At the time of writing, the SSLCommerz pricing page lists a non-refundable ৳25,500 one-time setup fee on the Basic plan, plus 2.5% per successful transaction (3.5% for AMEX). These are SSLCommerz charges; confirm current pricing with them. PHPTRAVELS takes no commission on your bookings.
Can I test without real money?
Yes. SSLCommerz provides a sandbox with separate test credentials, and sandbox transactions have no accounting effect.
Will my customers see bKash or Nagad at checkout?
Only if those channels are active on your SSLCommerz merchant account. Confirm the methods you need with SSLCommerz, then check that they appear during your sandbox and first live tests.
Can I run SSLCommerz alongside Stripe or PayPal?
Yes. PHPTRAVELS supports several pre-integrated gateways at once. Configure each with its own credentials and enable only the gateways you can actually settle, as the payment gateway guide recommends. For choosing between providers, see how to choose a payment gateway for a travel agency.
How do existing PHPTRAVELS clients get SSLCommerz?
Install the latest PHPTRAVELS update, then configure SSLCommerz under Payment Gateways. Enterprise includes lifetime updates; Startup and Agency clients can buy the update separately.
Can I sell in USD?
SSLCommerz converts non-BDT amounts to BDT at the current rate. Multi-currency storefronts are on the PHPTRAVELS Enterprise plan; Startup and Agency use a single site currency, so choose your selling currency with that in mind.
The SSLCommerz payment gateway is now live for Bangladesh agencies and tour operators on PHPTRAVELS. Existing clients can install the latest update and follow the steps above. New to PHPTRAVELS? Try the live demo to see the booking and payment flow, or compare plans to pick the one-time licence that fits your agency.
