The mini guide to Online Payments.
Online Payments: an introduction Online Payments is a secure payment service, offered by Booking.com. Contents Introduction 3 How it works 4 Why we offer online payment 5 About virtual credit cards on Booking.com 6 Answers to your top questions 8 It gives your guests the option to pay online when booking a stay at your property and helps you to guarantee payments and reduce cancellations. Your guests can pay with a credit or debit card, or using an alternative payment method like PayPal or Alipay. With the help of a trusted third party provider, their payment is loaded onto a virtual credit card. Then, the card details are attached to the confirmation email and sent to your inbox. Easy! 2
How? Guests can choose between paying at your property or paying online. When they choose to pay online, they can also choose how to pay either by credit/debit card, or using their preferred alternative payment method. The alternative payment methods offered adapt to suit the guest s region, and include PayPal, Alipay, ideal and more. Once the guest has paid, the sum is loaded onto a virtual credit card, which is sent to you with the booking confirmation email. You can charge this virtual card just as you would any other credit or debit card just make sure you check its activation date*. (*That s the day of booking for nonrefundable reservations, or the date of check-in for more flexible policies.) Why? ; Guaranteed payment Because guests pay when they book, you don t need to worry about your revenue or about charging any cancellation or no-show fees. ; Reduced cancellations We ve found that paying online makes guests 4x less likely to cancel. It cuts out invalid credit cards and prevents fraud, too. Facilitated by Booking.com VCC loaded and sent to you with confirmation email ; Potential new bookers Online Payments opens your property up to bookers who can t pay by credit card. We ve also found that increased payment flexibility makes guests more likely to book. In 2017, according to Adyen research, 6 out of every 10 online transactions were paid for using an alternative method like PayPal. Online Payments can help prepare your business for this continuing trend. Guests pay at your property with one of your accepted methods ; Futureproofing 4 5
Charge Date: 28/07/17 A virtual credit card is a Mastercard in digital form. Virtual credit cards on Booking.com are single use (one card per booking) and each has a unique card number, expiry date and CVC. Each card also has an activation date, which depends on the policy. For non-refundable reservations this is the day of booking, while for flexible reservations it is the day of check-in. About virtual credit cards on Booking.com Get set up Make sure your POS machine can charge virtual credit cards Double-check that your POS machine is registered under the right merchant category code (Please see Partner Help for more details) Mr. J. P. Smith 1084 9054 2308 0020 Be aware that certain card fees apply, depending on your bank or POS machine provider 6 7
Help! Answers to your top questions How do I opt in, or out? How can I view virtual credit card reservations? When your property is ready for Online Payments, we opt you in automatically after sending you an email with all the important information. There are two places: 1. The confirmation email sent to you by Booking.com 2. The Reservation details page in the extranet However, if you ever opt out and want to activate the ser vice again, here are the steps: 1. Log into the extranet and click the Property tab. 2. Click on Policies. 3. Under the section titled Guest payment options, click on Change/add details. 4. You ll see the question Allow guests to pay online? select the Yes option. 5. Save! The process to opt out is the same just choose No instead of Yes. If you have any pending online reser vations and you can t charge virtual credit cards, you ll also be asked to enter your bank details so you can be paid by bank transfer. (And remember, you can opt back in at any time!) 8 You ll be able to spot these bookings easily, as they ll always be labelled paid online. Test Booking You ll find the virtual credit card information included with all the usual reservation details. If you use an XML/channel manager we also provide hard-coded XML messaging ready for you to download. 9
Help! Answers to your top questions What do I do about refunds? If you have already taken money for the reservation, simply return the full sum back to the virtual credit card. Booking.com will handle the rest. If you haven t taken any money for the reservation Booking.com will refund the guest and close the virtual credit card.... And additional fees or charges? Additional fees and charges are included in the total virtual credit card balance unless per person charges are set to excluded in your extranet. If you ve set per person charges to excluded, you will need to handle these yourself at the property. Tip: If you re ever unsure what is included in the virtual credit card balance, you can check this on the extranet Reservation Details page. Which currency will I be paid in? The currency of the virtual credit card will always match what we call your load currency. (That s the currency you load your rates in on Booking.com) If your load currency is different to your local currency*, (or the currencies available on your POS machine) you can still charge in your local or POS currency. Just remember to keep exchange rates in mind! We d always recommend using a card machine that can charge multiple currencies, so you can choose what s best. *e.g. you load rates in euros but your currency locally is czech koruna $ Kč Terms explained POS currency: the currency your POS machine uses Load currency: the currency you load your rates in, in the extranet VCC currency: the currency the virtual credit card will be loaded with Why can t I charge the virtual credit card? L The card isn t active yet Double-check the card s activation date and make sure you re not trying too soon. L There are insufficient funds (overcharge) You can check the balance loaded onto the virtual credit card on the extranet Reservation Details page. L You ve reached your transaction amount limit Some providers limit how much you can charge within a set period. Contact your bank and try again later. L Because of a security violation If you ve tried to charge the card repeatedly in a short space of time, it might be temporarily blocked. Wait 24 hours and try again. L The virtual credit card has expired Virtual credit cards expire 2 months after the guest s check-out date. Get in touch and we ll issue you a new one. L Your card machine merchant code is invalid Booking.com virtual credit cards can only be charged by merchants registered as Accommodation. You ll need to contact your card machine provider for help. LL None of those? Please contact Accommodation Services. You can find the team s details in your extranet inbox. 10 11
Still curious? You can find more information about Online Payments in our Partner Help centre.