Payment Gateway for Hospitality

Running a successful business in the hospitality sector is about much more than providing a comfortable bed or a delicious meal. It is about curating an exceptional guest experience from the moment a booking is made until the final check out. Understanding and catering to your customers’ preferences, needs, and behaviours is crucial in the hospitality sector to deliver personalised and seamless experiences that enhance customer satisfaction and loyalty. As financial experts in this field, we know that the payment experience sits at the very heart of these operations. If your payment systems are clunky, slow, or disconnected from your property management system, you risk frustrating your guests and damaging your cash flow.

We specialise in helping hotels, B&Bs, and hospitality groups navigate the complex world of merchant services. We understand that hospitality payment solutions need to be robust, secure, and flexible. Seamless transactions are essential to reduce friction in the payment process and enhance operational simplicity. Whether you are looking to lower your per transaction fees or find a payment gateway that integrates with your booking engine, our team is here to handle the procurement process for you. We save you time and money by using our leverage to negotiate better rates than you could secure directly.

Recommended payment gateways enhance customer experience by emphasising convenience, speed, and security, especially through features like contactless payments and mobile wallets.

A good hospitality payment setup must handle multiple payment methods quickly, safely, and without interrupting the guest experience.

Understanding Hospitality Payment Solutions

The hospitality industry is unique. Unlike a standard retail environment where a customer walks in, buys an item, and leaves, hotels and hospitality business owners have to manage a complex lifecycle of payments. You need to collect payment for deposits, handle pre-authorisations at check in, process charges for add on services like spa treatments or room service, and finally settle the final amount at check out.

To manage this effectively, you need a payment solution that acts as a one stop shop. We help you find payment systems that are capable of handling card not present transactions for online bookings, as well as contactless payments at the front desk.

We often see hotels struggling with disjointed systems where the card machine does not talk to the computer. This leads to manual tasks and reconciliation nightmares. We believe that payments should be invisible to the guest and effortless for your staff. By working with us, we can ensure you have the right payment gateway for hospitality that supports your specific operational needs.

The Importance of a Fully Integrated Property Management System

In the modern hospitality sector, your property management system (PMS) is the brain of your operation. However, a brain needs a nervous system to function, and that is where payment processing comes in. A fully integrated payment solution connects your PMS directly to your payment gateway.

When guests book online via your website’s booking engine, the payment gateway securely captures their credit or debit card details. This information needs to flow seamlessly into your property management software. If you are using a channel manager to handle bookings from sites like Booking.com or Expedia, the integration becomes even more critical.

We help business owners implement solutions where guest data flows automatically. This means no more typing card numbers from a printed email into a terminal. It reduces human error and significantly tightens data security. When payments are integrated, you can automate the payment collection process. You can set rules to take the first night’s stay as a deposit automatically or send secure payment links for the balance before the guest arrives.

By allowing us to audit your current setup, we can identify where your payment methods are creating friction. We can then recommend hospitality payment solutions that allow your booking engine, channel manager, and payment gateway to work in harmony.

Enhancing Guest Experience with Mobile Payments

Your guests expect convenience. The rise of mobile payments has changed the way people pay for everything, and hotels are no exception. We ensure that the payment systems we procure for you are compatible with Google Pay and Apple Pay.

When guests arrive at your front desk, they often want to use digital wallets on their phones or smartwatches. It is faster than digging for a physical wallet and more secure than handling cash. By enabling Apple Pay and Google Pay, you speed up the check in process. This allows your staff to focus on welcoming the hotel guests and handing over the room keys rather than fumbling with a card terminal.

Furthermore, mobile payments are vital for add ons and ancillary services. If a guest is at the bar or the spa, they are more likely to spend if they can pay with a tap of their phone. We can help you set up payment terminals throughout your property that accept these payment types, ensuring a seamless experience wherever your guests are.

Serving International Guests: Dynamic Currency Conversion

If your hotel group or independent property attracts international guests, you are sitting on a potential revenue stream that many overlook. Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC) is a feature that allows guests to pay in their preferred currency.

When we negotiate your merchant services, we look for payment solutions that offer robust DCC capabilities. Here is how it works. A guest from the USA inserts their card. The terminal recognises it is a US card and asks if they want to pay in Pounds or Dollars. If they choose their preferred currency, they see the exact amount leaving their bank account instantly.

This improves the guest experience because it offers transparency. However, it also benefits your business. With the right hospitality payment solutions, you can earn a rebate on the currency conversion fees. We can structure your contract so that DCC becomes a profit centre for you, effectively offsetting some of your other payment processing costs.

We also ensure that your online payment pages can handle multiple currencies. When international guests are booking from abroad, being able to see prices and pay in their local currency can significantly increase conversion rates. We help you accept local payment methods from around the world, ensuring you never miss a booking because a guest couldn’t use their preferred payment method.

Security First: PCI DSS and Guest Data

With great power comes great responsibility. Handling guest data and credit or debit card information puts you in the scope of PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard). PCI compliance is not optional. If your data security is lax and you suffer a breach, the fines can be devastating, not to mention the reputational damage to your hospitality business.

We take PCI DSS seriously. When we source a payment solution for you, we prioritise providers who offer tokenisation and point-to-point encryption (P2PE). Tokenisation replaces sensitive card data with a unique string of numbers (a token) that is useless to hackers.

This means you can store the token in your property management system to charge for add ons or damages later, without ever holding the actual card details on your server. This makes achieving PCI compliance much easier for you. We guide you through the compliance self-assessment questionnaires and ensure your payment gateway provider handles the heavy lifting of data security.

Check In and Payment Experience

The check-in process is often the first in-person interaction guests have with your hotel, making it a pivotal moment to set the tone for their stay. A seamless payment experience at this stage can leave a lasting positive impression. Modern hospitality payment solutions that integrate directly with your property management system allow guests to pay for their stay and any additional services quickly and securely, right at check in.

By offering a variety of payment methods—including credit or debit cards, mobile payments like Google Pay and Apple Pay, and secure payment links for online transactions—hotels can cater to every guest’s preferred way to pay. This flexibility not only enhances convenience but also reduces wait times at the front desk, allowing guests to start enjoying your services sooner.

Secure payment links can be sent in advance, enabling guests to settle their bill online before arrival, which minimises the need for physical terminals and speeds up the check-in process. This approach also reduces the risk of fraud and ensures that payments are processed securely. By prioritising a smooth, integrated payment experience, hotels can elevate guest satisfaction and streamline their own operations within the hospitality industry.

Booking Engine and Channel Manager Integration

For hotels, managing bookings across multiple channels is a daily reality. Integrating your hospitality payment solutions with your booking engine and channel manager is essential for efficient, secure, and accurate payment processing. When these systems work together, payments for online bookings are automatically captured and recorded in your property management system, eliminating manual entry and reducing the risk of errors.

This integration also enables hotels to offer a wider range of payment methods, including alternative payment options like online banking and digital wallets, meeting the evolving preferences of today’s travellers. For international guests, dynamic currency conversion can be seamlessly provided, allowing them to pay in their preferred currency and enjoy a transparent, hassle-free payment experience.

By automating payment collection and ensuring all transactions are accurately reflected in the guest’s account, hotels can minimise manual tasks, reduce the risk of fraud, and provide a consistent, reliable payment experience across all booking channels. This not only improves operational efficiency but also enhances guest trust and satisfaction.

Scalability and Reliability

As your hospitality business grows, your payment solution must be able to keep pace. Scalability and reliability are non-negotiable when it comes to handling increasing transaction volumes, especially during busy periods. A robust payment system ensures that guests can pay for their services without delays or disruptions, maintaining a high standard of service even at peak times.

Choosing a payment solution that is fully integrated with your property management system means every transaction is automatically and accurately recorded, reducing the risk of discrepancies and ensuring smooth reconciliation. Reliable payment systems also minimise downtime, so your team can focus on delivering exceptional hospitality rather than troubleshooting payment issues.

A scalable solution adapts as your hotel expands, allowing you to add new payment methods or services with ease. This flexibility supports your business’s growth and ensures you can continue to meet the needs of your guests, no matter how your operations evolve.

Staff Training and Support

Even the most advanced hospitality payment solutions require knowledgeable staff to maximise their benefits. Comprehensive training ensures your team can confidently use the payment systems, handle any payment-related queries, and provide a seamless guest experience. Well-trained staff are less likely to make errors, which helps protect your business from fraud and improves overall efficiency.

Ongoing support is equally important. Reliable payment solution providers offer regular software updates, security patches, and technical assistance to keep your systems running smoothly and securely. With access to expert support, your staff can resolve any issues quickly, minimising disruption to your operations and ensuring guests always enjoy a secure, efficient payment process.

By investing in staff training and choosing a provider that offers robust support, hotels can maintain high standards of service, safeguard guest data, and ensure their payment systems remain up-to-date and secure in the fast-moving hospitality industry.

Why Use a Broker for Your Hospitality Payments?

You might be wondering why you should use us rather than going directly to a bank. The answer lies in leverage and expertise. We are a merchant services broker UK businesses trust because we sit on your side of the table.

The Volume Leverage Argument

Banks and payment processors work on volume. A single independent hotel or even a small hotel group has limited bargaining power. You get offered “retail” rates. However, we represent thousands of transactions and millions of pounds in processing volume across our client base. We use this bulk buying power to secure “wholesale” rates that are simply not available to individual businesses.

We negotiate with the banks on your behalf. We aim to lower your per transaction fees and eliminate hidden costs. We save our clients significant sums, often reducing their monthly bills by substantial margins. Why pay more when you can access our negotiated rates?

The Free Service Argument

Our service is completely free to you. We do the hard work of analysing your statements, negotiating with providers, and handling the paperwork. You keep the savings. The provider pays us a commission for bringing them your business, but because of our volume leverage, your rates are still lower than if you went direct. It is a win-win for your business.

High Risk and “Hard to Place” Businesses

Sometimes, hospitality businesses are classified as “high risk” due to the gap between payment and service delivery (chargeback risk). If you have struggled to get approved for a merchant account or have been hit with high rolling reserves, we can help. We know which banks are hungry for hospitality business and which ones understand the nuances of the sector. We can secure high risk merchant account instant approval in many cases where others fail.

Optimising Cash Flow with the Right Solution

Cash flow is the lifeblood of any hospitality business. You cannot afford to have your funds held up by a slow payment processor. We look for solutions that offer next-day or even same-day settlement to your bank account.

We also implement payment links and virtual terminal options. A virtual terminal allows you to take payments over the phone securely, perfect for deposits or settling corporate accounts. Secure payment links can be emailed to guests or event planners, allowing them to pay with just a few clicks. This speeds up the payment collection process dramatically.

Instead of chasing invoices for weeks, you can send a link and get paid instantly. This improved efficiency helps you manage your cash flow effectively, giving you the funds you need to reinvest in your services and property.

The Future of Hotel Payments

The hospitality industry is evolving. Contactless payments, digital wallets, and online check-ins are becoming the standard. We help you stay ahead of the curve. We can advise on self-service kiosks where guests pay and check themselves in, reducing the load on your front desk.

We also look at alternative payment methods. As we welcome more international guests, we might need to accept AliPay or WeChat Pay. We ensure your payment terminals and online payment gateways are future-proofed to accept payments from these emerging platforms.

Your payment experience should be an asset, not a liability. By adopting modern payment systems, you show your guests that you value their time and security.

Detailed Reporting and Analytics

A good payment solution provides more than just a way to take money. It provides data. We ensure the payment gateways we recommend offer comprehensive reporting tools. You need to be able to see your transactions in real-time.

You should be able to track payments by channel (online vs. physical terminals), by card type, and by time of day. This data helps you make informed decisions about your business. It simplifies reconciliation with your property management system and ensures that every penny is accounted for. We help you set up reporting that makes your accountant’s life easier and gives you a clear view of your financial health.

Our Process: How We Work With You

We make switching or upgrading your payments easy.

1. Analysis: We ask you to share a recent merchant statement. We analyse your current rates, fees, and contract terms.
2. Comparison: We compare your current deal against the entire UK market. We look at payment gateway providers UK wide to find the best fit for your specific needs.
3. Proposal: We present you with a payment solution that offers better rates, better technology, or both. We explain exactly how much you will save.
4. Implementation: If you choose to proceed, we handle the application. We coordinate with the payment processor and your PMS provider to ensure the system is fully integrated.
5. Support: We remain your partner. If you have an issue with a transaction or a terminal, you call us. We fight your corner.

Start Your Free Cost Analysis Today

You work hard to provide excellent services to your guests. You deserve a payment solution that works just as hard for you. Whether you run a boutique B&B or a large hotel group, we have the expertise to optimise your payments.

Don’t let outdated payment systems or high fees eat into your profits. We can help you accept payments more efficiently, secure your guest data with PCI DSS compliance, and improve your guest experience with seamless check in and check out flows.

We invite you to upload your statement to us today. Let our team show you how much we can save you. We are confident we can find you a cheapest card payment machine or a more robust gateway setup.

Speak to our team now to modernise your hospitality payment infrastructure. Let us handle the complexity of transactions, currency conversion, and compliance so you can focus on what you do best looking after your guests.

Get in touch for a quote. We are ready to help your business thrive.

Summary of Key Features for Your Website

• Tailored for Hospitality: We understand the nuances of hotels, booking engines, and PMS integration.
• Cost Reduction: We use our volume to lower your per transaction fees.
• Security: Full PCI compliance support to protect guest data.
• Global Reach: Dynamic Currency Conversion and local payment methods for international guests.
• Efficiency: Integrated solutions that save time and reduce manual tasks.

We look forward to being your trusted partner in payments.

Merchant Services