Booking.com gives you an option in which they handle the guest payments on behalf of your property.
Depending on the agreement between you and the channel you can get the paid by virtual credit cards (VCC) or bank transfer from Booking.com.
This article describes how Booking.com virtual credit card works and explains when and how to charge it.
Contents:
What are Booking.com VCCs
VCCs are temporary, digital Mastercards that Booking.com uses to pay you for bookings that your guests pay for on Booking.com. They function like regular credit cards and give you guaranteed payouts from Booking.com. They also save you time because you dont need to pre-authorize or validate them.
How the VCCs work
- For every relevant booking you receive, Booking.com send you a new VCC included in the guest's reservation.
- Each VCC has a unique card number, expiration date, and card verification code (CVC), and these details will never be reused.
- Each VCC also has an activation date when you can start charging the card.
- You can charge the VCC using a card terminal (POS machine). It is important to charge the VCC within the period when the card is active and not more than the balance available.
How to check the VCC balance, activation, and expiration date
Booking.com Payments Clarity feature enables you to see the VCC balance, activation and expiration date inside the reservation on myallocator (Cloudbeds Channel Manager). Follow the steps below.
To avoid any errors while processing the payment with your POS machine, it is important to charge the VCC based on this information.
- Current Balance: The available balance you can charge the VCC.
- Activation Date: The first day you can charge the VCC. The activation date will be the day after check-in (check-in date + 1 day).
- Expiration Date: The last day you can charge the VCC. The expiration date will be 365 days after check-out date.
- Access the guest's reservation.
- Check the remarks.
- You will see one of the messages below:
- You have received a virtual credit card for this reservation. You may charge it as of [activation date]. The virtual card expires on [expiration date]. You can charge the card [amount] until this expiration date.
- You have received a virtual credit card for this reservation. The virtual card has no funds. This is due to the reservation being a Risk-free Reservation where the guest has selected to 'Pay Later'.
More information about Risk-free Reservation on Booking.com: What is the Risk-Free Reservations programme and how does it work?
How to charge the VCC
The Virtual Credit Card information can be found on myallocator reservation. Check: How do I view the credit card details for a booking?
Charge the VCC for the desired amount using a POS machine. If you use a PMS system, add the payment to guest's reservation inside the PMS. For more information, contact your PMS support team directly.
How to refund transaction made on VCC
Booking.com will help refund the guest on your behalf. If you’ve already received money for the reservation, all you need to do is return that same amount back to the same virtual credit card.
If you have trouble refunding the virtual credit card, we recommend that you contact your bank or financial institution. For more details, contact your Booking.com Account Manager.
Virtual credit cards can be refunded even if they’ve expired. If the expiry date is in the past, just enter the current month as the expiration date instead. Booking.com will return the money to your guest.
More information on Booking.com: How and when do I refund a virtual credit card (VCC) ?