Booking.com offers various options for how their partner properties receive payments for bookings.
You have the option to manage guest payments yourself (possibly with the help of PayBridge), or apply for the Payments by Booking.com product available at a cost.
Managing guest payments by yourself
Certain payment methods will have you managing the entire booking payment collection.
- Cash - collecting the booking payment directly from the guest, in local currency, on arrival.
- Guest Credit Card - collecting the booking payment using your connected online payment gateway or manually using a speedpoint machine.
- Guest Bank Transfer (EFT) - collecting the payment directly from the guest by means of bank transfer.
You are responsible for the payment collection from the guest on arrival. In this case, you are also able to provide these guests with your banking details to process a bank transfer prior too arrival.
Note:
- If you request a bank transfer and the payment does not reflect in your account when expected, you need to contact the guest to arrange for another payment method.
- When unable to get hold of the guest regarding the payment, the booking should be cancelled on the Booking.com Extranet.
- Booking.com will not assist you in collecting the funds.
Be aware that this payment option is associated with higher rates of cancellations and no-shows. You are required to manage these bookings correctly to ensure that you are not incorrectly billed for commission by Booking.com.
Its always recommended to communicate with Booking.com guests using the Booking.com Extranet or Pulse app. This securely tracks all correspondence and makes it available when you need to support any claim.
You are responsible for processing the payment using the provided guest credit card details. Booking.com will only capture the the guest credit card details but will not process the payment.
Credit card payments are processed as follows:
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Using an online payment gateway:
If you use a payment gateway (PayBridge, iVeri, PayGate (VCS) or Direct Pay Online) the deposit will automatically be deducted but you will be responsible for collecting the balance from the guest, depending on your payment policy.
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Using a physical credit card machine:
If you use a credit card machine, you will need to retrieve the credit card details from our card vault within your NightsBridge, using an OTP (one-time pin) process. Guidance on this is available HERE.
Please note:
- If you haven't received a CVC number, please check your Booking.com extranet to ensure that you haven't selected to allow guests to book without providing a CVC number.
- All payment and booking queries should be directed to Booking.com - Review this tutorial on how to contact Booking.com.
Although Booking.com listings (Hotel IDs) created by the NightsBridge system may have credit card payments enabled, properties may still need to complete a verification process before Booking.com will make guest credit card information available/visible.
More information on this is available HERE.
Accepting guest credit cards vs. Not accepting them.
| When accepting guest credit cards: | When not accepting guest credit cards: |
|---|---|
Guests can book & pay with their own card, which is more convenient online. This can lead to more bookings. |
Without enforcing credit card details as a requirement at time of booking, when a reason for cancellation does arise, you will not have the option to process this as an invalid credit card. You will then need to contact Booking.com to request the cancellation and this will be at the discretion of Booking.com. |
| You are instantly made aware that payment was successful or not. |
You are expected to hold rooms until the guests' arrival before you are able to mark the booking as a no-show. |
| This can help you with cash flow by not having to wait for a scheduled payout from Booking.com |
Marking a booking as a no show may trigger Booking.com to reach out to the guest to confirm whether payment was taken. Some guests often assume payment has been made since they provided their credit card details. This could lead to you incorrectly being charged commission when you have not received any payment. |
| Should the deposit payment fail, you could possibly free up the room(s) sooner by using the 'Invalid Credit Card' option. Guests are then given 24 hours to provide new card details or you can cancel the booking on Booking.com |
You may not be able to enforce any cancellation policy, because you won't have received payment. |
You are responsible for providing guests with your banking details to allow them to process a bank transfer/EFT.
Please note:
- You will need to regularly check your bank account to see if payments have been received.
- Booking.com does not facilitate any part of communicating your banking details to the guest or processing of any payments - You will need to provide this information to the guest directly.
It is recommended to send the guest your banking details via the Booking.com platform. This can be done via the Extranet or Pulse app. Guidance from Booking.com on contacting guest is available HERE.
Be aware that this payment option is associated with higher rates of cancellations and no-shows. You are required to manage these bookings correctly to ensure that you are not incorrectly billed for commission by Booking.com.
Payments by Booking.com
Payments by Booking.com facilitates guest payments and then pays you out either by virtual credit card (VCC) or bank transfer.
- Virtual Credit Card - If you select to be paid by VCC, Booking.com will send you a new VCC for every relevant booking.
- Bank Transfer (EFT) - If you select to be paid by bank transfer, you are able to select the payout frequency.
Payments by Booking.com may not yet be available in certain countries of operation. As an alternative, Online Payments may be available.
This is a similar service to Payments by Booking.com, with the exception that the payout method is fixed to virtual credit card. Bank transfer is not an option.
The Payments by Booking.com product has eligibility criteria. Information on understanding the eligibility is available HERE.
How it works:
- Booking.com facilitates the guest payment and issues you with a Virtual Credit Card as the payout - A VCC is a temporary digital Mastercard linked to an existing credit card and a new VCC is issued for each booking.
- The virtual credit card can be charged as per the date outlined in the booking confirmation.
Guidance from Booking.com on this topic is available: Everything you need to know about virtual credit cards
Benefits of accepting Virtual Cards:
- Guests get to choose how they want to pay for the booking - more options attract more guests.
- Your property is not at risk of fraud. Booking.com is taking payment directly from the guest - payment is guaranteed with a virtual card.
- You can enforce your cancellation policy, without risk, if the guest cancels within the cancellation period.
- You can charge the Virtual Card should the guest no-show.
- Virtual Cards can be processed up to 12 months after the guest's departure date.
Important to note: Virtual credit cards will became your default payout method.
Once using the virtual credit card payout method from Payments by Booking.com, this payout method will be applied to all bookings received on all policies that have a prepayment requirement.
How it works:
- Booking.com facilitates the guest payment and processes a bulk bank transfer (for all checked-out bookings) to the nominated bank account as the payout.
- You have the choice to be paid out weekly or monthly - payouts will be processed each Thursday, or on the 1st of the month, as you have selected.
Note:
Due to international banking policies, this payout method is not available within all countries that Booking.com operates in.
How the guest pays:
- Booking.com provides guests with a comprehensive list of guest payment options. This gives guests the option to 'Pay Now' using their preferred method. These methods vary from country-to-country and may include (but not limited to) paying with a all major debit/credit cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal, Venmo, WeChat and more.
- These payment methods are then processed by Booking.com and paid out to you in the form of a VCC or bank transfer (EFT).
New Partner Restrictions:
The ability to set up a prepayment policy or view a guests' credit card details on Booking.com may be temporarily unavailable to new Booking.com partners (properties).
These restrictions may influence the payment/payout options currently available to you.
For more information on this topic, please follow this link to the Booking.com Partner Hub.
Updating your payment/payout settings on Booking.com
How you receive booking payments is managed from within your Booking.com Extranet. These settings are within the Policies section (of the Property tab) and/or the Finance Settings section (of the Finance tab).
Here is some guidance from Booking.com on these topics:
Changing policy settings on Booking.com
If you're using an online payment gateway to automatically transact on your behalf, changing certain policies on the Booking.com Extranet may impact the payment gateways' ability to transact successfully.