Let me tell you about an incident where I had to juggle a lot with the hotel payment processing.

Recently, I went to a conference in a nearby city and booked my stay with a well-known hotel. During checkout, I had to pay my food bill and to my surprise, the manager said they accept only cash or card payments. Unfortunately, I wasn’t carrying either of them. 

I literally felt helpless at that time. But thankfully, the manager was a nice guy. He asked me to transfer the amount into his account online and then, he would make the payment from his card. 

It took me around half an hour to expedite this entire process and finally checkout from the hotel. But, it’s not just me, there are many travelers around the world who often face such problems at hotels. And this, in turn, fetches hotels negative feedback. 

Today, I’ll talk about various modes of payment that not only give guests a better experience but also streamlines a hotel’s payment processing. So, give this blog a read and save yourself from unwanted hassles.

How to Improve The Payment Infrastructure in Hotels?

There are a gazillion ways to collect payment from guests. But the question is, which ones are preferred by them? And, how can they provide a seamless payment experience to guests? 

Here are the answers to these questions.

1. Enable card-based payment 

Many hotels still believe in collecting cash payments due to evolving fraud cases of credit and debit cards. 

In fact, as stated by AHLA (American Hotel & Lodging Association) in Today’s Hotelier,

Half of the global credit card frauds happen in hotels, and it sumps up $3 billion annually.

But you have to understand that just because something is happening with others, it’s not necessary that you’d face a similar situation. One cannot neglect the risks involved in it, but these days the payment infrastructure is quite safe and secure. 

For instance, online card transactions require OTP authorisation from the card/account holder. Or, while swiping a card at any POS terminal, one needs to enter the 4 digit pin to enable the transaction.

You can also implement certain regulations while collecting payment from credit cards, such as setting an upper limit for transactions. Any kind of payment above that limit will require the guests to provide their identity proof.

2. Accept online payments

I’ve seen many properties still operating on pay at hotel mode. This is a sheer waste of time and often results in loss of bookings as guests don’t need to pay even if they cancel their reservations a day prior to check-in. 

So, first of all, start with installing a booking engine on your hotel’s website. 

Secondly, integrate it with a payment gateway. However, opt for the one that is reliable, supports all kinds of payment modes (cards, UPI, net banking, etc.), and provides faster payment processing.

Ensure that both of them are integrated with your PMS. In that way, all the bookings and their payments will be updated in your system automatically. 

Word to wise: If you have an influx of international bookings, then opt for a payment gateway that accepts international payment modes like Paypal and World pay. 

3. Implement QR code-based payment

These days, QR code-based payments are prominent everywhere. Be it a grocery store, cab, or any e-commerce website. There are 2 prime reasons behind this:

• It’s a contactless mode of payment.
• There is no surcharge, or any additional transactional charge levied on it.

These QR codes are multichannel. Meaning, a single QR code can be scanned by apps like Google pay, Amazon Pay, PhonePe, Pioneer, and PayPal. Many properties, especially in India, have implemented it to make the payment process easier and seamless for guests. 

However, there’s a catch. QR code scanner works only when there is internet connectivity at the payee’s end. So, in areas where the network issue is frequent, implementing a QR code is not that effective. But still, you can keep it as a viable option. 

4. Install POS on every outlet

If you have a single POS (Point of Sales) terminal which is at reception where payments from every POS outlet are done, you are doing it all wrong. You MUST have a POS terminal on every sales outlet on your property. There are two prime reasons behind it:

• It’ll help in keeping a record of transactions and sales happening individually at each outlet. 
• It aids in a faster checkout.

In case you’ve multiple checkouts at the same time, you can ask the guests to make payment at any other POS in the property.

Word to wise: POS terminals require hi-speed internet to process payments. If your property is located in a remote area with connectivity issues, go for offline POS systems.

What are Some Additional Ways to Improve Guests’ Payment Experience?

Adapting payment methods is one thing that hotels can do to improve guests’ experience. However, there are other additional ways that can improve payment related experience for guests.

1. Ease out the refund process

When it comes to getting a refund, guests always end up struggling for it. It can be due to bank’s transaction timings, hotels and OTAs refund policy, or some glitch at users’ end. 

That’s why guests avoid cancelling their plans. Because they know that getting a refund and that too instantly is like getting blood out of stone. 

You can make their task easier by simplifying your hotel’s refund process. You might wonder, how is that going to improve the guests’ experience with hotel payment processing?

See, the best example of this is food ordering websites. They have an instant refund policy. Whenever you complain about an incorrect order or bad meal, they initiate the refund process immediately. 

2. Go for paperless billing

We all preach about green earth, adapting sustainable practices at hotels, going paperless, and so on. But when it comes to following this, I’ve hardly seen people doing it, especially the hotels. 

It’s important that you avoid it. Because it causes considerable damage to the environment due to a large amount of trees being axed down to create paper. Secondly, it’s a sheer waste of time.

You can simply mail a pdf version or send an SMS to the guests on receiving the payment. And if you are using a PMS, all this data is stored in the cloud. So, you don’t have to worry about managing piles of papers and files.

FAQs

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