The importance of a smooth online payment system
It goes without saying that every hotel needs a reliable payment system to be certain of its income. At the same time, today’s consumer has high expectations and demands a fast and effortless payment. Offering a smooth payment process has hence become vital to a positive overall guest experience. Luckily for both parties, there are many online payment methods that meet these requirements and the number keeps growing.
Online payment options at every step of the way
Thanks to the development of new technologies, online payments can be captured at any time throughout the customer journey: when confirming the reservation, upon check-in, during the stay, at check-out or even after the guest has left the hotel.
#1 Paying in advance through your Booking Engine
Many travellers like to pay in advance, so they don’t have to worry about the payment during their trip. By linking Cubilis Booking Engine to Payment Service Providers (PSPs), you can offer your clients a multitude of payment options. By providing the option to prepay using PSPs, you can reduce the risk of no-shows and increase your conversion rate.
#2 Virtual credit card payments via OTAs
Did you know that OTAs like Booking.com and Expedia now accept virtual credit cards? Usually managed through a digital wallet, they allow for easy, secure online payments. For every booking, a unique card number, expiration date and CVC are generated that can only be used once. This way, customers’ actual card details aren’t exchanged or stored anywhere. The CVC is transferred to Cubilis along with the reservation and can be retrieved by the hotel for a certain period, thus guaranteeing payment.
#3 Self-service payments at your hotel
In context of the self-service trend, online check-in and check-out are considerably gaining popularity. A check-in kiosk that replaces your front desk receptionist also successfully responds to this trend. Thanks to the latest online payment technologies, you can easily implement these features.
#4 Send payment requests at any time
Thanks to PSPs, you can also send payment links to your guests at any time: before check-in, during their stay and even after check-out. This way, guests can pay when it’s convenient and choose their preferred method.
Are you handling your payments securely?
Aside from bringing about a better guest experience and payment guarantees for the hotel, it is of course essential that these new payment methods provide the necessary security. This topic is especially relevant within the hotel industry, as a large volume of personal details is processed on a daily basis.
For both the customers and the hotel, it’s important that personal data is handled with care and in accordance with current regulations. Asking for your customers credit card details and keeping them without proper protection against unauthorised access is no longer an option. Traditional credit card payments carry a high risk, as the card info is stored within the hotel’s database and often even printed out.
The GDPR legislation requires businesses to collect the minimum amount of data required and to erase it after a certain period of time. The recently implemented PSD-2 directive requires Strong Customer Authentication to authorise online payments, preventing fraudulent or unauthorised use of credit card details. Good news: the online payment options discussed above are fully compliant!
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