Here are some tips to help hotel properties during their vendor selection process for new payment technology.
Payment Provider Checklist:
- Does the provider offer certified integration with your current system?
When searching for a payment gateway partner, first you need to determine which potential partners have certified integrations with your current systems. Your accounting department will thank you if you seek one common provider that works with all of your systems, so they do not have to reconcile payments in different payment gateway portals.
- Are their processing fees fair?
Review these fees and make sure they are competitive. If you have a gateway provider that is not from the same company as your processor, you will likely need to consider costs for both systems. Normally, if you use a gateway offered from a processor, you will not encounter rates on both the gateway and processing sides (or at least they should be lower).
- Research the devices.
Make sure to research the payment devices that are certified and ensure they meet your needs. There are a variety of options at different price points. Keep in mind the real estate they will take up on your front desk or bar. No need to pay a premium price for a large device with signature capture if it does not integrate with your system. The same goes for all the fancy advertising opportunities on the small LCD screens. If you won’t use it, don’t pay for it.
Also, make sure you understand from where your devices are ordered. Does the payment vendor provide them, or do you have to reach out to a third party? Ease of reordering is always a factor.
- What support is available to help avoid chargebacks and fraud?
Discuss the chargeback process and how the company offers support through it. Also, ask often how you can improve your business process to avoid chargebacks in the future. Ask questions about what tools they offer to help detect duplicate charges and fraud. They are the payment experts, and it’s their job to make sure you are doing everything you can to keep each dollar you earn.
- Does the process validate the guest during or pre-check-in?
Today, hoteliers have more opportunities than ever to help streamline the check-in process [including] pre-check-in [or] a self-service kiosk check-in. These additional options for guests introduce a whole slew of opportunities for fraudsters to take advantage of potential gaps in your process.
When we shift to a self-check-in model, it means we lose the layer of security where our agents request photo identification. Make sure you consider adding ID scanners or photo capture into these processes to validate that the person on the reservation is indeed the person receiving the key to the room.
Although regular payment devices require a card present to be chipped or tapped, a digital payment device uses Near Field Communication technology. You may consider turning NFC capabilities off your payment devices to prohibit these digital payment types. This may impact honorable guests, but it will also prohibit others with ill intentions from slipping past your safeguards.
There is so much to consider when choosing payment providers for your property. From integration certification to considerations for devices and expertise on how to combat chargebacks and fraud, these are all essential factors to understand before ultimately making your vendor selection.
This article was originally published in the September edition of Hotel Management magazine. Subscribe here.