Posted on July 8, 2024

Your Guests from All Over the World Can Now Pay You via a Secure Virtual POS Terminal!

By: iPay

Hotels deal with a constant stream of reservations, handling payments and having all of them in one place can be challenging. We’ll break down Virtual POS, allowing you to accept payments without the need for a physical card reader, using only a web-based application.

 

How Virtual POS works Think of a Virtual POS as a digital card reader. It allows you to manually enter credit card details via the internet, making it possible to process card-not-present transactions with just a secure Wi-Fi connection.

 

Still confused about how it works?

Our Infrastructure Lead, Starford Gwala, breaks it down for us:

“It is a platform where when you fill in the reference, amount and currency (KES/USD), presented with the checkout page. Once you are on the checkout page. The customer is given the laptop/device to key in the card information.

In some cases, a booking agency may receive a virtual card containing the specific amount to be charged from secure booking sites such as Booking.com, Expedia, Agoda, Airbnb, among others. They will go to the page where they will fill in the reference, amount and currency (KES/USD) where they will be presented with the checkout page. They will in turn fill in the virtual card information and then charge the card.”

 

Why is it important to provide the option to pay with Virtual POS?

 

•  Payments are only processed with the guest’s approval and consent, leaving no opportunity for unauthorized transactions. For businesses, this reduces the need for damage control related to financial breaches.
• Ensures you receive payments securely especially when booking is done through a booking site.
• Additional payment path for your business.
• Flexibility: Travel agencies can easily track and reconcile payments.
• In the case of Virtual Cards being used, the technology has 30x lower fraud risk compared to traditional payment cards.

Here’s a simple guide to charging Card Payments through iPay’s Virtual POS from your dashboard:

 

•  Access your account.
• Enter guest details in your Virtual POS Portal: This includes the reference, amount and currency (KES/USD).
• Proceed to checkout: Key in the provided card number, expiration date and CVV to charge the exact amount.

 

Potential Downsides and How to Handle Them

While Virtual POS offers great convenience, a business owner must safeguard its guests’ payment details.

Our Sales Lead, Loreen Opiyo adds,

“A business needs to do a check-in verification i.e., apart from taking a copy of the guests ID or passport, they need to verify that the names that appear on the guest’s identification documents are the same as the names on the card being used for payment. If not, they need to get written approval e.g. signed invoice, via email from the card holder. The property owner also needs to verify that the signature presented on the back guest’s card, is the same as the one on the identification document presented.”

Not doing so can lead to a loss of customer trust and seriously impact your business. After all, human error is still a factor. To help curb these risks, make sure your staff handles sensitive customer information with caution.

Conclusion

With iPay's Virtual POS, managing your hotel’s payments becomes a secure, efficient and hassle-free experience.

If you want to simplify payment processing and get paid faster/see the difference it makes, see how Virtual POS solution can help and start your self-onboarding journey.

Click below to get started.

Get started

Want to learn more on how it works on iPay’s dashboard?

Book a Demo Here

For any inquiries or assistance, reach out to us:

• Email: [email protected]
• Phone: +254 791 444 111 / +254 734 441 111
• WhatsApp Us: +254 713 129623

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