ZaK - Guarantee Methods for Reservations

With the introduction of PSD2 in Europe, Zak offers you the possibility to set up different methods to guarantee your reservations, as having just the credit card details of a guest is no longer sufficient, unless he/she is from outside the EU.

☞ Docs: PSD2 - European legislation on payment services

You can configure one or more guarantee methods at the following section and also the sending of specific automatic emails (we'll talk about that below, at "Automatic Email to request a Guarantee"):

↳ Link: ZaK > Products > Policies > Guarantee Methods

A guarantee method defines the use of Credit Card data provided by guests to guarantee your reservations. Zak provides you with 5 basic reservation guarantee methods, which you can use to set up your Guarantee Rules, even enabling more than one at the same time in the same Rule:

1. Standard Credit card: providing CC details only

2. Credit Card with billing authorization: authorization to a future charge

3. Credit Card, Freezing Money: pre-authorization and blocking of the amount

4. Payment: immediate payment

5. Bank Transfer

☞ Docs: ZaK - Setting up a Payment Gateway

1. Standard Credit Card

By enabling this method, the guest will simply be asked for his Credit Card details as a guarantee, no amount will be withdrawn. As mentioned above, due to PSD2 this method is no longer sufficient, but will remain available as we have several non-European customers not affected by PSD2 regulations. No active Payment Gateway is required to enable this option.

2. Credit Card with billing authorization

With this method, ZaK will request the guest's CC details and the authorization to charge later. To enable this method, you must have Stripe or Nexi or PayZen configured.

The authorization will be requested to the Guest Page, where there is a specific section ("Guarantee your reservation"). Here, by clicking on PROCEED, the guest will be redirected to the Stripe/Nexi/PayZen page, where to enter his CC details:

☞ Docs: Zak - Voucher link and Guest online page

Then, you can proceed with the charge directly from the reservation detail, by clicking on "PAYMENTS", then on the icon  and then on "CHARGE AMOUNT":

3. Credit Card, Freezing Money

Using this method, ZaK will request permission from the host to "freeze" a certain amount. Also in this case it is necessary to have configured Stripe or Nexi or Payzen.

You can choose to block the total amount of the reservation or only a part, fixed or percentage. This is called pre-authorization. The amount will be retained only temporarily, usually for 7 days in case of Stripe (this depends on the gateway). You can also choose a maximum advance: a number of days before check-in within which the system will freeze the money.

In the following example, an amount equal to 50% of the reservation will be frozen within 5 days of the check-in date, so you'll have one week (in the case of Stripe) to withdraw it:

! ATTENTION: If you set for example 5 days as maximum advance, the guest will be able to guarantee his reservation only from 5 days before check-in. So if we are in June and my reservation is for September 5th, I will not be able to guarantee it until September 1st.

The pre-authorization request will be shown on the Guest Page, where the guest can enter his Card information:

To withdraw the pre-authorized amount, you must click on the "Payments" box and on "Get a payment" (as in point 2). In the window that will open, you will find a special section called GET PREAUTHORIZED PAYMENT. The system will automatically show the frozen amount, but you can also modify it. Any amount that is not withdrawn will automatically be recorded as a refund and can no longer be withdrawn.

4. Payment

By enabling this method, the customer can immediately make the payment to confirm the reservation. You can choose whether he will have to pay the total amount of the reservation or only a part, fixed or percentage:

You need to specify with which Payment Gateway the payment should be made, choosing among the ones provided by ZaK (Stripe, PayPal, MercadoPago, Yandex, Nexi or Redsys). The page of the chosen Gateway will then open, where the customer can complete the payment even without having an account, continuing as a guest.

Again, this option is available on the Guest Page. In the example below, I choose Stripe ad a Gateway:

☞ Docs: ZaK - Setting up a Payment Gateway

5. Bank Transfer

To enable this method, you must enter your bank details. You can also choose whether the customer should pay the total amount or only part of it:

At this point, when making a reservation on the Booking Engine, the customer can choose to pay by bank transfer. The reservation will now be created with the status you have chosen for non-guaranteed reservations.

The guest will then be redirected to the Guest Page, where he will see your bank details:

Once you receive the money, you will have to manually record the payment within the reservation. Moreover, if the status is option/offer, remember to manually change it into confirmed. At that point the shield will turn green, which means that the reservation has been successfully guaranteed.

Priority in case of multiple methods enabled in the same Rule

In case you create Rules including more than one guarantee method at the same time, ZaK will automatically choose which Rule to show. Let's see below with which priority the various methods will be shown, both for the Guest Page and for the ZaK Booking Engine.

IN THE GUEST PAGE:

- Payment: this method, if enabled, will always be present and always shown in addition to the others. In fact, the guest always has the possibility, as an alternative, to make an immediate payment (if this method is enabled).

- Billing authorization prevails over Freezing money and Standard Credit Card

- Freezing money prevails over Standard Credit Card


IN THE BOOKING ENGINE:

- Standard Credit Card: This method, if enabled, will always be visible in addition to any other enabled methods.

- Freezing money, Billing authorization and Payment, if enabled, are all shown under a single button with the name of the Payment Gateway you configured. Once clicked the button, the reservation is immediately created in ZaK with the status you choose for not guaranteed reservations at the following section:

↳Useful Link: ZaK > Sales > Online Reception > Reservation Model

The guest can click the button again to proceed to guarantee the reservation. He will be redirected to the Guest Page, so in this case the priorities mentioned above for the Online Check-in are applied (Billing authorization prevails over Freezing money that prevails over Standard Credit Card).

Automatic Emails to request a Guarantee

Near each guarantee method, you find a message icon:

By clicking on it, you'll be redirected to a page where you can configure automatic emails for guarantee methods. You can enable:

• the sending of a first email to invite the guest to guarantee his reservation:

• the sending of a reminder if the guest doesn't guarantee his reservation after X days:

• the automatic cancellation of the reservation if the guest doesn't guarantee it after X days:

• the failback language in which to send communications in case the guest language is not among those you have translated. We always recommend choosing English:

Finally we remind you that the templates to send in those cases can be customized at the following section:

↳ Useful Link: ZaK > Settings > Templates > Guarantee

☞ Docs: ZaK - Templates: your text models

How to assign a guarantee to a reservation

A Guarantee Method is always enabled by default, even on new accounts: if you haven't set up any method, the Standard Credit card Method will be applied.

If, after enabling other methods, you want to assign a specific Guarantee Method to a reservation, you can do it by accessing the reservation detail and clicking on the pencil:

Once the guest has confirmed the reservation through one of the enabled methods, ZaK will send you an email to inform you that the reservation has been guaranteed. In addition, in the reservation page, you will find a green shield if it has been guaranteed, or a red shield if it has not been guaranteed. You will also find an indication of how it was guaranteed. In the following example, we see that it was guaranteed by Credit Card: