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Travellers are becoming increasingly reliant on their mobile devices, and they love the convenience of paying for their goods and services online. It’s important that hotel operators monitor the rising trends in the hotel payments industry, because knowing how guests prefer to pay for their rooms is vital for maximising bookings at your property.
These are the top 5 trends in the hotel payments industry right now:
1. Guests crave a seamless transaction
Rather than checking-out at the front desk and physically handing their credit card to your staff member, your guests are starting to expect a seamless, ‘behind-the-scenes’ payment experience. It would be optimal for them if you store their credit card information, provide them with a breakdown of their fees prior to checkout and automatically charge their card on the last day of their stay. This eliminates the need for them to spend more time sorting through logistics on their last day, and ultimately improves their experience at your property.
2. It is now common for payment processing to be integrated with the property management system
The online payment solutions that are now available for hotel operators allow them to eliminate clunky, extra hardware and devices that were formerly used to process transactions.
Rather, the payment portals are located within the property management system. This not only benefits the guests, but the hotel staff as well. The PMS is more intuitive, and knows more about what types of payment options are needed within the hotel industry.
3. Guests are much more willing to give credit card information online
Consumers are increasingly willing and able to shop for nearly any product or service online. They trust this medium and prefer the convenience online shopping affords them.
Naturally this means that’re also more willing to provide their credit card or payment information online. This level of consumer comfort and confidence has led to a direct increase in online bookings for hotels across the globe.
4. Going paperless is now the norm, rather than the exception
Hotel guests not only prefer the convenience of electronic transaction confirmations, they also see it as the more sustainable and responsible option. Rather than printing an itemised record of all charges made during a stay, most guests are happy with an email or text containing the same information.
5. Credit cards are the preferred method of payment, but use of e-wallets is on the rise
E-wallets are considered to be more secure and more convenient than credit cards. They are not the primary payment method of most travellers, but the number of people relying on e-wallets is rising every year.
Hotel operators who implement the right technology at their hotel will always be able to stay on top of the latest payment processing trends in the industry. Whether they want to accept payments via their mobile app or they want to begin using e-wallets as an accepted form of currency, hotel managers and operators can seamlessly integrate these new features when they have the best all-in-one business solution in place.
