Hotel Merchant Accounts & Payment Integration for Cloudbeds, SiteMinder, and Guesty Users

Payment Integration for Hotel Systems

Hotels today are expected to offer not just comfort, but convenience, and that includes how guests pay. Whether you're operating a boutique hotel, luxury resort, serviced apartment, or rural lodge, having a merchant account that integrates with your hotel booking software can significantly streamline your payment operations, enhance guest experience, and reduce chargeback risk.

In this in-depth guide, we’ll explore what a hotel merchant account is, why integration with systems like Cloudbeds, SiteMinder, Guesty, and SevenRooms matters, and how hospitality businesses can choose the right solution.

What is a Hotel Merchant Account?

A hotel merchant account is a business banking facility that enables hotels and lodging providers to accept and process debit and credit card payments from guests. Payments may be taken at different points:

• During the online booking process
• At check-in/check-out
• Over the phone (MOTO)
• Via in-person POS terminals

Unlike a general merchant account, a hospitality-specific solution accommodates the unique needs of the industry: flexible payment scheduling, multi-channel processing, fraud protection, and integration with core hotel systems.

Why Integration is Essential for Hospitality Businesses

In a typical hotel operation, payments interact with multiple systems — the property management system (PMS), booking engine, channel manager, POS, and sometimes even CRM and accounting software.

Integrating a merchant account with these platforms unlocks a wide range of operational and financial benefits.

1. Operational Efficiency

Manual entry of card details is not only error-prone, it wastes time and slows down the check-in/check-out process. With integrated payments, transactions sync automatically with your PMS or POS, reducing administrative overhead and human error.

For example, if you're using Cloudbeds, integrating a merchant account means that payments, pre-authorisations, and deposits are instantly reflected in the guest folio — with no need for manual reconciliation.

2. Unified Guest Experience

Integration allows you to accept payments across multiple guest touchpoints, from online bookings on your SiteMinder-powered website to walk-in payments at your SevenRooms-hosted restaurant. Guests can pay how and when they prefer — whether it’s by card, contactless, Apple Pay, Google Pay, or in their local currency via Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC).

3. Enhanced Security & PCI Compliance

Hotels often process card-not-present transactions, which are more prone to fraud and chargebacks. Integrated gateways support tokenisation, CVV/AVS verification, and 3D Secure authentication, ensuring compliance with PCI DSS and reducing risk exposure.

4. Financial Visibility

Integrated merchant accounts provide real-time dashboards and detailed payment reporting. This helps hotel finance teams reconcile revenue, track outstanding balances, and identify issues quickly — all from within the same system they already use for operations.

5. Chargeback Mitigation

Hotels frequently deal with cancellations and "no-show" disputes. An integrated solution can use preventative features such as:

• 3D Secure for online bookings
• Clear billing descriptors to reduce guest confusion
• Chargeback alerts that provide up to 48 hours to resolve issues before escalation

Common Integration Scenarios

Here’s how integrated payments typically work across different hotel operations:

Online Bookings (Booking Engines like SiteMinder, Guesty, NetAffinity)

• Scenario: A guest books online and enters card details to secure the reservation.
• Integration Impact: The payment is processed immediately or stored securely for later. The PMS is updated in real time, and the guest receives confirmation instantly.

In-Person Payments (PMS + Card Terminal)

• Scenario: A guest arrives and pays at the front desk.
• Integration Impact: Payment terminals sync with the PMS (e.g. Cloudbeds, Hotelogix), automatically closing folios and logging the transaction under the guest's profile.

Phone Reservations (MOTO Transactions)

• Scenario: A guest books a room by phone, providing card details verbally.
• Integration Impact: Staff use a virtual terminal integrated with your PMS to process payments with multi-step verification (AVS, CVV, phone/email verification), minimising risk.

On-Site POS (e.g. SevenRooms in F&B Outlets)

• Scenario: A guest charges food, drinks or spa services to their room.
• Integration Impact: The POS system communicates directly with the PMS and merchant account, consolidating charges for seamless billing at checkout.

Considering Alternatives to Stripe? Here's Why It Matters

Developers often choose to integrate Stripe into hotel websites and booking platforms due to its clean API, fast setup, and strong developer support. It’s a go-to option for getting started quickly — especially for online payments.

However, Stripe may not always be the most strategic choice for hotels in the long run, particularly for businesses with complex requirements or high transaction volumes. Exploring dedicated hotel payment solutions can offer key advantages, such as:

✅ Lower overall processing costs through custom or tiered pricing models

✅ Stronger chargeback support with early alerts and dispute resolution tools

✅ Greater flexibility with payment scheduling and settlement timelines

✅ Deeper integration with PMS, POS, and booking engines

✅ Support for MOTO (phone bookings) and international payments

✅ More detailed reporting and reconciliation tools tailored to hospitality needs

✅ Customisable security features like multi-level verification and tokenised storage

Choosing the right merchant account isn’t just about ease of integration — it’s about selecting a system that works across your entire operation and supports long-term growth.

How Merchant Advice Service Can Help with Integration

Choosing a merchant account that integrates smoothly with your hotel software can be complex, especially with so many payment gateways, processors, and compatibility variables.

We simplify this process with The Payments Directory®, designed specifically for hotels and lodging businesses.

Whether you're using Cloudbeds, SiteMinder, Guesty, SevenRooms, RoomRaccoon, or Little Hotelier, we can help match you with providers that:

• Support direct API integration with your existing systems
• Offer compatible payment terminals and virtual gateways
• Provide tools to manage chargebacks, MOTO transactions, and multi-property setups
• Reduce your card processing fees through tailored negotiation

Our directory isn’t just a list — it’s an intelligent matchmaking tool that considers your integrations, business type, guest profile, and transaction volume.

Software Systems Commonly Integrated with Hotel Merchant Accounts

Final Considerations Before You Choose a Provider

• Check for Software Compatibility: Ensure the merchant account supports direct integration with your current booking software or PMS.
• Involve Your Staff: Front desk and finance teams should test the solution before full deployment.
• Plan for Scaling: Choose a system that can grow with your property, including multi-location support or global payment capabilities.
• Verify Support for MOTO and International Payments: Especially if your property receives high volumes of phone bookings or international guests.

Wrapping It Up

The right hotel merchant account isn’t just about accepting cards — it’s about connecting payments to your entire guest journey. With integrations available for Cloudbeds, SiteMinder, SevenRooms, Guesty, and more, you can reduce friction, improve staff efficiency, and better protect your revenue.

By using tools like The Payments Directory®, hospitality businesses can confidently choose a payment solution that works seamlessly with their tech stack, without overpaying or missing out on vital features.

If you're ready to streamline your payments and improve the guest experience, we're here to help.