Changing guest demands drive payments evolution

Evolving methods of payment in the wider consumer landscape were driving change and evolution in the hospitality sector, attendees of The Psychology of Payments in Hospitality webinar, hosted by HOSPA, heard.

Tobias Caesari, SVP, Global Enterprise at Planet, commented that hotels needed to “react and adapt” to the desires of guests, who have become used to a broad variety of payment options, many of them automated.

“There’s a lots more you can do with a card when it’s on file. You are changing your staff from hosts rather than cashiers, which is important, particularly in the luxury space.”

David Wheatcroft, SVP European sales, Planet, added: “There has been a shift in society - two years ago no one was using kiosks.”

Robert Kennedy, managing director, strategy, Revo Hospitality Group, said: “We have been slow with checkin-in kiosks, thank god for McDonald’s and airline kiosks which are driving them. We have been slow in catching up”.

Kennedy noted that, despite the growth in adoption, hotels were still facing issues around the variety of acquirers in the sector, which was creating alignment challenges. He said: “You could have a kiosk with one acquirer and a different one at the desk. We need to go towards the automation process, but the different acquirers need to work together.

Caesari said: “Shoot for the stars; what you want to achieve, you can. OTAs are just one channel, hotels have many, which presents other payment challenges. How do you optimise that first touchpoint online without having a horrible experience online - it is a point of frustration for guests being asked for their credit card at checkin when they have already put it in online.

“Any payment, any channel, any market, Planet will support it, with deep integration across the sector. Given the global nature of hospitality you might have a number of acquirers, but we thrive on that complexity. It creates a lot of opportunity in the sector.”

The issue of chargebacks was raised during the demand, with Kennedy adding: “Chargeback is always a problem, particularly when charges come in after the guest has left. At the end of the day, VCC is a challenge, but I see that there will be challenge proving that the cardholder was there.”

Caesari responded: “Chargebacks are a challenge in the industry and a lot of those come down to processes. One of the big reasons for them is fraud and there are ways to reduce this which can be implemented.

“As you come onto the property experience itself, there are ways to address chargeback by implementing different payment flows and processes. Making sure you’re using the right payments flows, mapping out what you want the experience to look like and working with trusted partners helps.

“There are a number of challenges involved with processing VCCs, there are ways to look at them to make them less operationally challenging. Some of that comes down to more organisation. We’re definitely seeing more methods which are more efficient.”

Looking at incoming technologies, Kennedy said: “AI will help with the guest experience, as well as helping to expand revenue streams.”

Caesari was similarly optimistic, adding: “AI is about how can you use it to optimise what you already do, or provide experiences. The exciting part is the agentic space, which gives a personal assistant-style platform which books for you.”

The conclusion, drawn by HOSPA CEO Jane Pendlebury, took attendees back to the guest who, above all, was looking for choice.