Taking Payments

All online booking transactions are processed via Stripe. We have chosen Stripe as our payment processing providers as they allow a greater level of integration, flexibility and, most importantly, security. At the time of writing, they charge a commission of just 1.4% +20p (for UK-issued cards) & 2.9% + 20p (for international cards) on the transaction amount.

It’s easy to set up an account with Stripe to start taking bookings. From the Payment page, click the blue 'Connect with Stripe' button at the bottom. If you already have a Stripe account, simply login. Otherwise, it only takes a moment to fill out the form. Once you have completed registration, you should see the confirmation, 'Connected with Stripe'. 

To add a payment to a booking use the payments tab within the booking itself. Click 'Add Payment' and choose one of the options. These are:

1. Stripe - this is to take the guest's card details and complete the payment with them on the phone,  or with you in the moment
2. Stripe Customer - this will generate a link for you to email to the guest.  They can add card details themselves - this is both convenient for the guest and more secure for partners too
3. Bank Transfer - if you've taken a payment by Bank Transfer this is to record it as completed
4. Cash - to record a payment by cash
5. Cheque - to record a payment by cheque
6. Other - to record a payment by any other means

Deposits

You decide what percentage deposit you want to charge to customers at the point of booking. This can range from 20%–100% of the total booking amount.

If you opt to take anything less than 100% full payment, you can schedule the balance to be taken automatically. After you have entered your deposit percentage, select the Take Balance Payment option from the dropdown menu, then select the number of days before the check-in date that you would like to charge the balance payment. If a customer books closer than this to check-in, the full 100% will be taken at time of booking. The customer will be sent a reminder email the day before the balance is due, then a confirmation once payment has been taken. Please note, automatic balance payments are only available on Bedful Plus and Bedful Pro.

Telephone bookings

In addition to using Stripe for automated payment requests, you can also use the Stripe interface to take payments for telephone bookings or for customers on-site who would like to pay by credit/debit card. We have made this easy for you by including an option to take payment via Stripe on the booking flow for Owners. You can read more about how to take manual bookings here. However, please note that you are not permitted to write down or otherwise store customer credit card information – you are only allowed to enter it into the Stripe interface to take payment. Read more information from Stripe about taking telephone orders.

Payment links Plus

You can also send customers a payment link under a booking. Choose Add Payment, select Stripe Customer as the payment type, and then click the Pay Link button on the payment in order to obtain the payment page. Copy that payment page URL from your browser and send it to the customer to pay.

VAT