I'd like to set up a prepayment deposit. How can I do this?

Not to be confused with a damage deposit or credit card pre-authorisation, a prepayment deposit is when you charge a guest for their reservation in advance.

If you accept credit cards, you can charge a prepayment on the card the guest booked with. You can charge either the full amount or a partial amount, but the amount should be the same as the amount stated on the booking confirmation.

How to set up a prepayment deposit:

1. Click on the ‘Property’ tab, then ‘Policies’.
2. Under ‘Cancellation and prepayment policies’, click ‘Edit’ to update an existing policy or select ‘Create a new cancellation policy’.

If you don’t accept credit cards but want to charge a prepayment deposit, you’ll need to contact the guest to arrange the payment. To keep things simple, decide on a payment deadline and inform the guest – you can even set up a message template to save yourself time.

Alternatively, you could set up a cancellation policy, where guests pay a set percentage if they cancel after a certain date. That way, you won’t have to worry about returning money to all the guests who don't stay – and your property may be more appealing to other potential guests who would rather not pay anything up front.

You can set up a range of cancellation policies – all of which give you control over how much your guests pay, and when.

Note: If you’ve just recently become a Booking.com partner, there may be a temporary restriction on prepayments for your property.