As an Independent Hotel owner, the merchant services challenges are mostly related to ensuring that your clients have the best possible stay and experience at your hotel. Branded hotels create the competitive standard by consolidating their universal resources in enhancing customer experience, and thus present the same challenge for independent hotels in achieving same level of service. So your guest will hold you to deliver world class services in all respects, notwithstanding your resource constraint.

As one of the implied requirements by your guest is a world class merchant services and payment management system. You are faced with the challenge of meeting the expectations of your guests through:

• Fast and Reliable Services
• Secure and Globally Certified payment methods – Benchmark services·      
• More than a Single Option for completing payments – perceivably one they identify with 

With most clients opting for electronic methods of payment using electronic cards and virtual tokens, it is essential for you to invest wisely and select the right merchant service provider that will provide the competitive edge:

Global Acceptance

Many independent hotels incur a lot of cons to include the convenience international guests require, and this escalated by the use of third party payment services which are often more subjective than responsive to your specific merchant services needs. For instance, reconciliation of accounts may take time with different merchant services companies sorting through your transactions, and you may have audit constraints that will be affected by the third party administrative requirements.

You may even  have to hire administrative personnel to manage the service. The use of merchant services with an integrated payment gateway is the solution you are looking for; with many financial institutions world wide abiding to differing standards, using a globally acceptable merchant service that links your payment system with global financial institutions would benefit you in many ways, significantly, allowing you to process payments with multiple currencies.

Integrating with exiting payment Infrastructure

Since you already have local point of sale solutions, some of which you host on-site, a merchant service that is able to integrate all the services into one harmonized payment system for your on-line and on-site reservations, Bookings, Dining and Lounge tabs. Integrating payment methods for ease of reporting, auditing and efficiency.

Security and Privacy

Security and Privacy is a great concern for your guests, because of your non-exclusive identity (as perceived by your guests) in the market as one in many independent hotels, your guests would want further assurances that the information that is on their electronic cards will not get compromised.

Getting EMV Certification can be challenging as well as meeting PCI standards. While this is a feat you can accomplish, you need to keep an eye on your bottom line. What this means is you need a merchant services provider that offers EMV certification and PCI compliance by integrating your payment systems with theirs. When your guests notice the efforts you have undertaken to ensure their privacy and security, their confidence in your services will be renewed.

Summing it Up

At the end of the day, you are tasked with assuring the satisfaction of your guests, most of whom want to settle their bills over electronic systems, whether local or international. Profitability is dependent on reservations and bookings, but it is limited by the cost of processing payments through third party services or by running the service yourself, and it might come at an inconvenience to your guests. The best approach is to use merchant services, which bridge the divide between integrated services and differing payment standards and systems, whether for your point of sale, Wireless or Virtual Terminals or international bookings on-line.