As an operator in the hospitality industry, providing efficient service delivery to your clients is a priority. This means ensuring they have a safe and comfortable haven away from home. Besides all the services, payment processing needs to be top-class. This includes using secure and reliable software, modern payment options, and affordable services.
The word “hospitality” covers a lot of businesses – from boutique hotels to family resorts, high-end luxury hotels to bed and breakfasts. This post discusses the relevance of using bed and breakfast merchant services in your business, and the available payment gateways. In addition, we’ll look at what to consider when selecting payment processing options for your hotel and how PaymentUSA can help your business with technology-savvy merchant services.
When we talk about merchant services, most conversations surround payment options in line with modern practices. With a high number of Americans settling for credit card payment processing, you can’t afford to lose out on this emerging technology. As it stands, many bed and breakfast hotels still work with outdated booking platforms. This only provides a poor customer experience and even puts financial details at risk of exposure.
Here is a summary to help you understand the basics of credit card payments.
The four parties involved in a credit card transaction are:
Bed and breakfast services are often considered “high-risk” because of the nature of the transactions. Here’s why:
There are many reasons why you might consider using bed and breakfast merchant services. Primary among them is a reduction in the time it takes to process a booking and complete payments. It also helps you offer various methods of payment to your clients. Here are some other considerations.
Because you offer a bed and breakfast service, most of your customers may book for a short time. Hence, with top bed and breakfast merchant services, they can choose from a number of methods and pay in their desired currency. With over 100 currencies, PaymentUSA allows you to provide executive assistance to your guests and customers.
In addition, there is less friction involved. Your customer can quickly pay for a room by releasing card details and allowing you to save it. Hence, you don’t need to ask for the information again..
The ability to offer diverse payment choices to your customers allows you to improve your income. You can market other complimentary products and services and simply charge their details. This reduces friction points and will enable you to make more sales. Consider it a win-win situation. Your guests or customers enjoy products they can seamlessly pay for, boosting your revenue.
Mistakes in payments happen often when manually entering credit card details. If the margins for these errors are high, chargeback and penalties will become common. Using the right bed and breakfast merchant services will reduce errors in data entry. Rather than spending time to rectify the problem, your staff can channel their energy into other, more productive, efforts.
The presence of automated payment processing solutions ensures you spend less time doing reconciliation for all accounts. Manual entries mean you have to gather all data from different staff members and reconcile payments between the diverse providers.
You only need one profile and contact with a particular service provider to resolve issues quickly. Your PMS will also be in sync, which makes reporting more straightforward.
You may feel that you save more money when using manual operations for booking and other important assignments. Hence, you may not be inclined to pay bed and breakfast merchant services fees. However, there are many costs associated with not accepting credit cards. They include:
Trying to track these issues and resolve them only needs more capital and effort. By partnering with a reliable payment provider like PaymentUSA, you can quickly eliminate these issues and provide professional value to your guests.
Bed and breakfast merchant services include contactless payments, which are ten times more effective than in-person payments. This is another crucial benefit of using these services – the guest is not delayed unnecessarily at reception.
With this payment service, you can store all payments and financial information at once with the tap of a card. Hence, your guests can settle into their rooms quickly, and your staff can attend to other customers.
Now that you understand the benefits of utilizing bed and breakfast merchant services, you must know how to choose a provider. Besides the claim that they all offer this solution, features differ. Here’s what to look for to ensure you’re on the right track.
When searching for the right partner, check out their processing fees and ask for a breakdown. We understand that low rates can tempt you, but don’t be moved. Most times, payment processors attach small processing charges, which they will use to bill you if you don’t meet a monthly sales target.
Other standard fees include those for international cards, refunds, interchange charges (fees under a certain amount), and refunds. It is essential that you get a proper explanation first. Select a processor that has transparent charges and fees.
The standard pricing types are –
Choosing a partner with clear explanations of all the charges is essential. This will allow you to plan appropriately.
Optimal bed and breakfast merchant services should use strong security encryption and fraud prevention technologies. Your customers’ financial details must be secure and safe. This is a significant issue that many guests have problems with.
You can protect your company from fraud by partnering with a payment provider that meets all PCI compliance requirements.
As an operator in the hospitality industry, it is common to have guests using foreign currencies and/or cards. Hence, having a payment provider that supports and accepts international transactions is essential.
Some providers charge for this service, and others do not. Always ask for explanations regarding processing fees and other charges. Accepting international payments will offer your guests convenience and increase your rankings.
One common feature your customers will consider before releasing their cards to you is whether your payment partner is respected. Hence, it would be best to read reviews and talk to fellow owners of bed and breakfast establishments for recommendations. It’s not enough to have an excellent online payment system. Customers may be reluctant to use their services if your provider is not popular and trusted.
The ideal partner should have the proper technical support framework. There should be diverse modes for reaching out to the technical staff to get issues resolved on a 24/7 basis. It is also necessary to have risk analysis experts to give you insightful reports.
Security is of the utmost importance. To protect your business from possible lawsuits, your payment provider should meet all the requirements for PCI compliance. Other regulations to meet are PSD2, SCA, and 3DS.
When searching for a top provider, easy integration with your other third-party accounting software tools is important, especially for your essential systems. Many payment gateways are only compatible with special software. Finding a provider with this tool will save you the stress of having headaches and the extra cost of setting up your accounting system.
With the high level of chargebacks and fraudulent cases hoteliers face, finding the right bed and breakfast merchant services provider is essential. PaymentUSA is your go-to provider if you’re looking for an affordable, reliable, and reputable platform.
Our strategies comply with PCI regulations and other financial requirements to protect your business. Besides, you no longer need to spend heavily on maintaining an automated payment processing system for your customers. We also offer 24/7 technical assistance to help you stay ahead of issues. Contact us today.
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