One of the most dangerous assumptions in medical tourism is that collecting patient payments and forwarding them to hospitals is “just part of the job.” In reality, across nearly every major jurisdiction, this practice is considered a regulated financial service — and doing it without the proper license can trigger severe criminal and civil penalties.
Hospitals, clinics, and facilitators must understand that accepting, holding, or transmitting patient money is often governed by strict payment, banking, or anti–money laundering laws. Violating these laws — even unintentionally — can lead to fines, frozen accounts, lawsuits, and even prison time.
To make this complex landscape clearer, here is a summary of how criminal and civil liability applies in key medical tourism markets worldwide.
The Safer Path Forward: Use Better by MTA for Payments
The simplest and most powerful way to eliminate this risk is to stop handling patient funds directly and instead use a payment platform built for compliance, security, and trust. That’s exactly why industry leaders around the world are choosing Better by MTA.
Developed in partnership with Mastercard, Better by MTA is the first global payment system designed specifically for medical tourism. It ensures that every payment — whether from the US to Colombia, Canada to Mexico, or the UK to Saudi Arabia — complies with local and international financial regulations. It protects patient funds from the moment they’re sent until the hospital receives them. It shields facilitators and hospitals from legal exposure. And it builds patient trust with a level of safety and professionalism that manual bank transfers can’t match.
If your business accepts patient payments, this is no longer just an operational decision — it’s a legal one. Better by MTA gives you the confidence that every payment you process is compliant, secure, and aligned with the highest global standards.
Visit https://better.medicaltourism.com today to learn how to protect your business, safeguard your patients, and build trust in the next generation of global healthcare.
