Third-party payment gateways
Note: This article applies only to SiteMinder Pay only.
Third-party payment gateways (such as PayPal) have their own processes - for help contact that provider directly.
About SiteMinder Pay
What is SiteMinder Pay?
SiteMinder Pay is our fully integrated, secure, payment solution. Process payments, manage your transaction and payout activity, send payment requests, set up automated payments and more. SiteMinder Pay helps save you time by automating some manual tasks, and keeping everything organised in one place.
Note: SiteMinder Pay enables you to process payments, but nothing is charged automatically unless an Automated payments rule matches the reservation.
What if SiteMinder Pay isn't available in my country?
If SiteMinder Pay isn't available in your country, you can connect a third-party payment gateway to your booking engine instead. Note that a third-party gateway is separate from SiteMinder Pay and does not support the same features: you manage and refund payments directly in the gateway's own portal, not in SiteMinder. To see which gateways are available for your region, go to Payments.
How do I activate SiteMinder Pay?
To get started and activate SiteMinder Pay:
Go to the Payments tab.
Click on Activate now.
You must be an Admin user to activate SiteMinder Pay.
How much does SiteMinder Pay cost?
No setup or monthly fees
Transaction fees vary based on the country where your property is located, card network (Visa, Mastercard, etc.) and card type (domestic, international, premium)
American Express, China Pay union, Discover & Diners Club, Japan Credit Bureau (JCB), Virtual Credit Cards, Commercial Cards may incur higher fees
Note for properties in Australia: The domestic-card rate applies to domestic Visa, Mastercard and American Express cards, including personal and commercial American Express cards. Visa and Mastercard commercial cards remain in the premium tier
You can view the fees for SiteMinder Pay:
Before activation: The specific fees are listed on the activation form
After activation: Go to Payments > Transactions. Click on a specific transaction to view the fee charged. For any further questions about transaction fees for your SiteMinder Pay subscription, contact our support team
Who can access/update my SiteMinder Pay account?
General users must have both below permissions enabled:
Reservation details and operational reports
Guest payment details
With these permissions, they can:
Process payments and refunds
View credit card details
Admin users can:
Activate SiteMinder Pay
Process payments and refunds
View credit card details
Does SiteMinder Pay have a point of sale (POS) terminal?
SiteMinder does not currently have a POS terminal for SiteMinder Pay.
Why is SiteMinder Pay asking for additional verification details?
For SiteMinder Pay to remain secure and compliant, you will be required to provide additional verification details if:
You just signed up.
Your payouts have been paused.
There has been a policy change.
When this happens, in your Payments page, you will see a notification — Verify my account. Click on this notification and enter the information.
Processing Payments
How do I take a payment for a reservation with SiteMinder Pay?
Once you have activated SiteMinder Pay, you can now process payments for reservations via your platform:
Go to the Reservations tab.
Find and open the reservation.
Click Manage payments.
If the card details have already been provided, they will be pre-filled. Add the amount, then click Process payment.
The amount will be processed by SiteMinder Pay and the card will be charged.
To take a payment after a card has failed, or if you don’t have a card on record, send a Payment request.
You can also set up automatic scheduled payments using the Automated payments feature, and take manual payments for walk-ins, extras, and other one-off payments through the Virtual terminal.
These steps apply to payments processed with SiteMinder Pay. If you use a third-party payment gateway, payments are processed by the gateway, not in SiteMinder.
How do I print a payment confirmation for a SiteMinder Pay transaction?
To print a payment confirmation for a SiteMinder Pay transaction:
Go to Payments > Transactions.
Find the transaction and click on it.
Click on Print confirmation.
What is the Payment requests feature?
The Payment requests feature allows you to ask a guest to make a payment via a secure webpage. This feature is useful when, for example:
a payment is required for an outstanding reservation balance.
a guest’s previous payment failed
a guest has not provided their payment card details
a guest’s card requires additional authentication, such as strong customer authentication (SCA)
a payment is required for extras
Can SiteMinder Pay take payments automatically?
The Automated payments feature is available with SiteMinder Pay for the following channels: Booking.com, Expedia, Hotelbeds, and Direct booking. The Automated payments feature enables you to set up payment rules to charge guests automatically at different times in their booking journey.
How long do I have to process a payment for a reservation?
You must process a reservation payment within 7 days after check-out. After that time, card details will be permanently deleted in your platform, as required by the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS).
What do I do if I’ve processed the wrong amount?
If you have processed a payment for the wrong amount:
If the payment was too high: you can make a refund.
If the payment was too low: you can take a manual payment. You can use the Virtual terminal or send a Payment request.
What currency is used to charge a reservation?
The reservation will be charged in your local currency, which is also the currency configured for SiteMinder Pay. If you use Direct Booking, guests can have the option to pay in their local currency at checkout or when paying via a payment request link.
If SiteMinder Pay is not available in your country and you plan to use a third-party payment gateway, please consult directly with your provider regarding the currency used to charge the reservation and the currency in which you will receive the payout.
How do I take a manual payment?
You can take manual payments using the Virtual terminal. The Virtual terminal can be used for reservations or any other payment that needs to be taken, such as for extras. To use the Virtual terminal, go to Payments > Virtual terminal.
⚠️ Note: The Virtual terminal is not available in France, Germany, or Thailand.
Does the Virtual terminal calculate taxes and promotions?
When you take a payment using the Virtual terminal, no taxes are added to charge and no promotions are discounted. Therefore, you must make sure to calculate these yourself, and then to charge an amount that includes any taxes and promotions that apply.
Can I process virtual credit cards (VCC) with SiteMinder Pay?
Yes, SiteMinder Pay supports virtual credit cards (VCCs). Each channel has their own policy on when virtual credit cards can be charged.
When can I charge a virtual credit card (VCC)?
VCCs contain an activation date from the channel that determines when the card will be charged. It is usually from the day of check-in, up to 6 months from booking. Please refer to the channel's policy on charging virtual credit cards.
Why is there no CVV for a Direct Booking reservation?
For security reasons, you will not receive a CVV for a Direct Booking reservation when SiteMinder Pay is activated and rates either have a deposit enabled or require full payment at time of booking.
Refunds
How do I process a refund via SiteMinder Pay?
There are two pages where you can refund a payment using SiteMinder Pay.
Process a refund via the Payments > Transactions page for reservations, as well as for payments made via automated payments, the virtual terminal, and payment requests.
Go to Payments > Transactions tab.
Find and click on the transaction you want to process a refund for.
Click on the Refund button.
Enter the Amount to refund.
Click Process refund.
Process a refund for a reservation via the Reservations page:
Go to Reservations.
Find and click on the reservation you want to process a refund for.
Click Manage payments.
Click on Past payments and refunds.
Find a refundable payment and click on Refund.
Enter the Amount to refund.
Click on Process refund.
How long do I have to process a refund for a reservation?
You must process a refund within 90 days after processing the original payment, and no later than 7 days after check-out.
Is there a fee to process a refund?
No fee applies to the refund transaction itself, however the original transaction fee will not be refunded.
Third-party payment gateways such as PayPal charge their own processing fees.
Payouts
Once I process a payment, how long does it take to arrive in my bank account?
Payouts are sent to your linked bank account once per day and take 2–7 business days to arrive, depending on your bank and location. Allow extra time for your first payout while we verify your details.
How do I update my bank account details?
Your linked bank account is shown in Payments > Payouts > Linked account. To change it, contact our support team from an Admin user with your registered business name, current and new bank details, the reason for the change, and the date it should take effect.
Transactions and Reporting
How can I view all my SiteMinder Pay transactions?
Your Transactions page shows charges and refunds made with SiteMinder Pay. To view all your SiteMinder Pay transactions (charges and refunds made via SiteMinder Pay), go to Payments > Transactions tab.
Will payment transaction details be sent to my PMS?
You can sync your SiteMinder Pay reservation transactions from our platform to your property management system (PMS) — a feature only available to participating property management systems that are enabled to handle payments. Syncing your channel reservation transactions, such as your manual and automated payments and refunds, will help save time and reduce the need to manually record and manage payments separately in your PMS.
Transactions processed via the Virtual terminal are not synced: only transactions associated with a channel reservation are supported. To support the payment sync API, the property management system must support the payments feature and must be a participating provider. To find out more, please contact your PMS directly.
How can I download my monthly tax invoice for SiteMinder Pay?
To get your monthly tax invoice for SiteMinder Pay:
Go to Payments > Invoices.
Next to the month you want to generate the invoice for, click on Generate.
The invoice will be sent to the registered e-mail address of your SiteMinder Pay account.
Other
Does SiteMinder use Stripe?
SiteMinder Pay is our integrated payment solution that we've built specifically for hotels. To provide you with secure, reliable payment processing, we've partnered with Stripe - one of the world's leading payment infrastructure providers.
Here's how it works:
SiteMinder provides the hospitality-specific technology and integration with your property management system
Stripe powers the underlying payment processing infrastructure
This partnership combines our deep understanding of hotel operations with Stripe's robust, secure payment technology
Think of it like this: SiteMinder Pay is your complete payment solution designed for hotels, while Stripe works behind the scenes as the secure payment processor that handles the actual card transactions, compliance, and global payment methods.
This means you get:
Bank-level security and PCI compliance through Stripe's infrastructure
Seamless integration with your existing SiteMinder tools
Access to multiple payment methods and currencies
Simplified reconciliation and reporting in one place
Your funds are processed securely and deposited directly to your designated bank account according to your payout schedule.
How do I deactivate SiteMinder Pay?
To deactivate SiteMinder Pay, please contact our support team.