Applies to:          Stayntouch PMS          

Virtual Credit Card Handling

You'll find an ADD VIRTUAL CARD button for company and travel agent cards from Revenue Management > Company & TA Cards > Select Company/Travel Agent Card > ADD BILLING INFORMATION > + NEW PAYMENT METHOD. 

Upon selecting the ADD VIRTUAL CARD button, the user will be required to enter a VIRTUAL CARD HOLDER NAME, which is the cardholder name that shows up on the virtual credit card. The VIRTUAL CARD HOLDER NAME is a free format text field with a maximum of 255 characters (special characters are allowed) and may consist of the following examples:

• BOOKINGCOM AGENT
• EXPEDIA VIRTUALCARD
• See full list of examples in the "Recommendations for Virtual Credit Card Handling" section below.

NOTE: Usually with OTA Collect with virtual credit cards, the OTA sends a credit card with a different number each time, but the credit card name is usually the same.

If an invalid name is entered, the user will receive an error message stating, “Name on card must be less than 256 characters.”

Once the user enters the VIRTUAL CARD HOLDER NAME, they can either click ADD VIRTUAL CARD or CANCEL. The ADD VIRTUAL CARD button will be disabled until the user enters at least one character. If the virtual credit card is added, it will be displayed under the PAYMENT field of the saved default routing information.

Please note, this is not a payment type, but an additional card that will be saved with no credit card logic. This only allows the name on the card to be saved (free text). This field can be edited in case future updates need to be made.

When a reservation is sent from any external system or Internet Booking Engine (IBE), and the virtual credit card that is attached to the reservation that’s being sent from the external system or IBE matches the name on the virtual credit card that you’ve saved on the company or travel agent card, then the PMS will apply the default billing instructions as per the normal functionality and then add the virtual credit card that was sent with the reservation as the method of payment on the bill to which it’s routed. The PMS will then default the reservation’s default method of payment to cash. This will eliminate the need for manually routing each reservation that contains a virtual credit card as a payment method.

ITEMS TO NOTE: 

• The reservation must be received from the external system or IBE with the OTA's appropriate company or travel agent card attached for this logic to be invoked. If this is not already the case, you may need to reach out to your CRS provider for assistance ensuring the company or travel agent details are sent through when the bookings are made.
• Automatic deposit collection does not occur for payment types on Bill #2; therefore, the card on Bill #2 will need to be charged manually at any time during pre-check-in, check-in, or check-out.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR VIRTUAL CREDIT CARD HANDLING

DEPOSIT RULES AND STAYNTOUCH GUEST MOBILITY/KIOSK 

• If a hotel has been using a deposit rule to automatically charge virtual credit cards prior to arrival, the PMS will no longer be able to successfully process the deposit, since the deposit policy logic uses the main method of payment on the reservation, which, if using this functionality, is cash. There is not currently a way to set a deposit rule to use the method of payment on Bill #2.
• If a hotel is using Stayntouch Guest Mobility or Stayntouch Guest Kiosk and has settings enabled to prevent cash only guests from completing self check-in, these guests will now meet that criteria, because the main method of payment on the reservation, if using this functionality, is cash.