When deciding on a payment solution for your property, there are a lot of factors that come into play. One of the biggest concerns on hoteliers’ minds, of course, is the cost.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In pursuit of cost savings, many lodging businesses opt for a local payment solution that lacks integration, which can look good upfront but ultimately leads to costly errors, a poor guest experience, and lost revenue down the road. <\/span>To set your property up for success, it\u2019s crucial to consider<\/b> the entire value of your payment solution and how it will affect your business in the long term.\u00a0\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n Here, we look at the hidden value of an <\/span>integrated payment solution<\/span><\/a> and how it can help lodging operators improve the guest experience, eliminate manual errors, avoid lost revenue, and speed up reconciliation time.<\/span><\/p>\n When a property\u2019s payment system isn\u2019t integrated, there is much more room for error. For instance, when a hotel receives a reservation, whether it\u2019s through the booking engine or via an <\/span>online travel agency (OTA)<\/span><\/a>, staff must manually enter payment details into the property management system (PMS).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Sounds simple enough; however, many variables are at play. What if the employee gets distracted and mistakes a six for a nine when entering the credit card number?<\/span> Even the most detail-oriented employees can make data entry errors, especially when juggling multiple responsibilities.<\/strong> In the worst-case scenario, the guest may arrive to find their reservation canceled due to an invalid credit card number.<\/span><\/p>\n Upon arrival, your front desk agent must manually enter the amount into the payment terminal for the guest to pay. If in a rush or dealing with a sticky terminal, agents may accidentally forget or add an extra zero. These mistakes lead to a major headache when reconciling and can be costly for both the guest and the property.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Upon departure, the guest may encounter more problems. Staff may have to ask for the guest\u2019s credit card again, causing a delay in checkout and poor guest experience. If the breakfast charge hasn\u2019t been applied to the account yet, the agent will have to track it down \u2013 or put it through as a late charge, which leaves it vulnerable to a dispute.<\/span><\/p>\n In all of these scenarios, the costs to the hotel are high. The guest is inconvenienced and may become frustrated, ending the stay on a bad note. The employee may become flustered. And the hotel may be unable to collect all the charges it\u2019s due.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \n With an integrated payment system, everything is connected.<\/b> This includes the payment gateway that collects credit card details during online reservations, <\/span>the PMS where reservation information is stored<\/span><\/a>, and the payment terminal at the front desk that is used to process transactions.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Because all the payment details are transferred from one system to another electronically and automatically, there are none of the risks of manual data entry.<\/b> Throughout the guest\u2019s stay and on to return stays, purchases and payment transactions are instantly and seamlessly synced to the guest profile. <\/div>\n\n \n\n\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n During Passport, Chad Brubaker, Senior Director of Product at Cloudbeds, spoke to the challenges of payments within the hospitality industry and how an integrated solution can help.<\/p>\n\n The transaction risks with a non-integrated system<\/h2>\n
What is an integrated payment system?<\/h2>\n