Payments: FAQs

A virtual credit card (VCC) is a temporary digital Mastercard linked to an existing credit card. It functions like a regular credit card and helps guests make secure online payments.

Here’s what you need to know about charging VCCs:

• For every relevant booking you receive, we’ll send you a new VCC.
• As long as each VCC remains active, you can charge it as many times as you like until the balance reaches zero.
• Each VCC has a unique card number, expiration date and card verification code (CVC), and we never reuse these details.
• Each VCC also has an activation date. For non-refundable bookings, this is the same date as the booking date, provided you’re eligible for the earlier VCC activation feature. For all other reservations, you can charge the VCC when the reservation becomes at least 90% non-refundable. For regulatory reasons, partners in Germany will be able to charge VCCs when reservations become 80% non-refundable.

Once the VCC is activated, you can view the details in the extranet as many times as you like for 18 months (547 days) from the check-out date. However, you have up to 12 months (365 days) after the check-out date to charge a VCC. If you don’t charge it by then, the amount will be considered breakage and Booking.com will have the right to consider it revenue. We’ll email you a weekly summary showing the last week’s past checkouts VCCs with open balance. This is not a cumulative report with all uncharged VCCs, it's only about the previous week.

Here’s how to charge a virtual credit card (VCC) for a reservation that the guest paid for online:

1. Log in to the extranet and click on Reservations
2. Click on the guest’s name or reservation number to view the Reservation details page
3. Click on View credit card details
4. Enter the VCC details using your POS machine
5. Charge the available amount displayed

For a more detailed explanation of how to charge VCCs, watch this tutorial video.

If you use a channel manager or property management system (PMS), learn more about charging VCCs in this article.

If something goes wrong when you try to charge a virtual credit card (VCC), you’ll be able to see the reason on the Reservations details page approximately 30 minutes later.

Here are the most common issues with charging VCCs, and what you can do to resolve them:

• If the card isn't active yet, check the activation date again in the extranet
• If the card has insufficient funds, check that the amount you’re charging matches the available balance and then try again
• If the CVC code entered is incorrect, double-check you’re using the correct number
• If the expiration date entered is incorrect, make sure you’re using the correct expiration date
• If your POS machine merchant code is invalid, contact your payment service provider for help – our VCCs can only be charged by merchants registered as accommodation providers, you can have your code changed if necessary
• If there’s a security lock, you’ve made too many attempts to charge the same card, you should try again in 24 hours

If you’re having other problems charging a VCC, contact us via your extranet inbox.

If you receive a cancellation, no-show or modification – and you’re owed money – we’ll send you an email with updated virtual credit card (VCC) details.

If you’ve already charged a virtual credit card (VCC), there are two situations when you may need to refund it:

1. You or your guest cancel or modify a booking, or the guest doesn’t show up, and you agree to waive any fees that would apply
2. A reservation is cancelled due to Force Majeure – in these cases, guests shouldn’t be charged for stays they can’t make, and we waive commission on the affected reservations

In both cases, we’ll refund the guest, and you’ll need to refund the same VCC you originally charged. To learn more about how to do this, take a look at this article.

When a guest makes a booking and pays for it online, we’ll send you a virtual credit card (VCC) along with the booking details. This card gives you access to the exact amount for that booking, and you can charge the virtual card as you would any credit card. Just make sure you do this after it's activated.

Virtual credit cards can be charged as soon as the reservation becomes non-refundable according to the reservation policy. This is standard for all properties according to your GDTs.

If you meet the following criteria, you can charge VCCs as soon as the reservation becomes non-refundable: 

• You have no outstanding VCCs older than 60 days and requiring a guest refund
• You’ve paid your invoices on time for the last 12 months, according to the payment due dates
• You’ve been working with us for at least six months and have validated guest stays and reviews

We’ll review whether or not you meet these criteria every four months and will email you if anything changes.

If you don’t meet the criteria during our periodic review, we can consider this an additional financial liability for us. To limit our financial exposure, you can charge the VCCs later – one day after check-in, or at check-in for US properties.

We'll notify you via email if you qualify to charge your virtual credit cards before check-in.

We’ll send you an email once a VCC is activated. You’ll have 365 days after the check-out date to charge the VCC – after that, the funds will belong to us as they’ll be considered financial breakage (revenue from services that are paid for, but not used).

We’ll email you a weekly summary showing the last week’s past checkouts VCCs with open balance. This is not a cumulative report with all uncharged VCCs, it's only about the previous week. You’ll be able to see the transaction details in the extranet for 547 days (18 months) after the check-out date.

If you’re asked to enter a zip code or postcode when charging a virtual credit card (VCC), you can use the guest’s zip code or postcode, your own zip code or postcode or 1011 DL, which is the postcode for our headquarters in Amsterdam.

Your payment service provider will generally charge a fee of between 2% and 3% for facilitating each transaction. The exact amount you’re charged may depend on local laws and any additional fees your bank may charge. For more information, contact your payment service provider.

Exchange rates don’t affect your payments if you've set the price of your rooms in the same currency you use to charge virtual credit cards (VCC).

If you receive a VCC in one currency but charge it in a different one, Mastercard will convert the amount using its own exchange rate. You can find out what this is on the Mastercard website.

You’ll pay commission for these bookings the same way as other bookings. Each payment you receive by virtual credit card (VCC) will be for the total gross amount of the booking. When we email you the VCC details, we’ll include a breakdown of the amount you’ve been paid. We’ll also invoice you separately for your commission fees.

No. To find out if your property is eligible for payments, the costs involved, and to sign up, follow these steps:

1. Log in to the extranet
2. Click on Finance, then Payments by Booking.com
3. Under Payments by Booking.com, you'll see details of our payment service
4. Click on the sign-up button to complete the registration process

After registering, you’ll be activated for Payments by Booking.com. We’ll also email you more information about our payment service.

This depends on the payment schedule you've set up and your bank. It can take a few days before the payment will arrive in your account.

• If you’re set up for monthly payments, we’ll process payments no later than the 15th day of the month after the guest checks out.
• If you’re set up for payments four times per month, we’ll process payments on the 6th, 9th, 18th and 27th day of each month. Each payout will include reservations where the guest checked out during the period since your last payment was processed. The payment processed on the 6th day of the month includes reservations where the guest checked out between the 27th and the last day of the previous month.
• If you’re set up for weekly payments, we’ll process payments every Thursday for reservations where the guest checked out during the previous week, which runs from Thursday until Wednesday. If the Thursday when we'd usually process your payment is a public holiday, we’ll process it on the next working day. Please note that this is a different payment schedule from four times per month. We’re currently in the process of migrating all partners to the weekly payment schedule.

To check or change your payment schedule, log in to the extranet, click on Finance and select either Getting paid or Finance settings (depending on your settings), and then either Your payout settings or Payout timing to select the payout schedule.

Here’s how to download your commission invoices:

1. Log in to the extranet
2. Click on Finance and then click on Invoices
3. Choose the year you want to filter by
4. Click on Download pdf beneath the number of the invoice you want to download

To see the reservations included in each invoice, click on View statement beneath the invoice amount.

Each month, we’ll also email you payout documents with details of reservations that guests paid for online, plus any refunds. You can also download these payout documents. Here’s how to do it:

1. Log in to the extranet
2. Click on Finance and then click on Payout information
3. Click on the arrow next to the period you’re interested in to see a list of reservations
4. Click on PDF or CSV to download the payout document

Depending on the country you’re located in and the payment model you’re using, we’ll pay you either a gross or net amount.

If you receive a gross payout, we’ll pay you the total amount of your reservations. We’ll then invoice you for commission normally. Your commission invoice will include all bookings from the previous period, including any bookings that weren’t paid for online.

If you receive a net payout, we’ll pay you the total amount of your reservations minus the total amount of all your invoices. You won’t have to pay commission separately.

Here’s how to change the bank details we use to pay you:

1. Log in to the extranet
2. Click on Finance and then click on Bank details or Finance settings 
3. Under Receiving payouts from Booking.com, click on Add bank details or Edit bank details
4. Enter your new bank details
5. Click on Update bank details

Keep in mind that it can take up to six working days for your bank details to be fully updated in our system.

To learn more about updating your bank details, watch this tutorial video.

To list a property on Payments by Booking.com with a foreign bank account, you must not accept credit card payments, and have your property listed in a country that belongs to the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA).

For countries outside of SEPA, the bank account must be located within the same country as the property is listed.

Exchange rates don’t affect your payments if you set the price of your rooms in the same currency as we make your bank transfer payment.

If the currency you set your rooms in isn’t the same as the currency we make your bank transfer payment in, we’ll convert the amount using Bloomberg’s exchange rate the day before we send your remittance advice.

If we make your bank transfer payment in a different currency from the currency of your bank account, your bank will convert the amount using their own exchange rate. To find out what this is, contact your bank directly.

To find out which currency we’ll make your bank transfer payment in, check the payout document we email you each month. You can also download these payout documents.

Here’s how to do it:

1. Log in to the extranet
2. Click on Finance and then click on Payout information
3. Click on the arrow next to the period you’re interested in to see a list of reservations
4. Click on PDF or CSV to download the payout document

The total amount shown on your invoice only includes amounts we charge commission on, such as room rates. The total reservation amount shown on your remittance advice is the total amount we’ve collected from guests on your behalf. This includes room or unit rates plus any additional fees – unless these have been broken down per person and you’ve set them as excluded in the extranet. We don’t charge you a commission on these excluded fees.

If the amount of your commission invoice is higher than the amount we pay you by bank transfer, we’ll collect the difference from your bank account. We need you to set up a Direct Debit to allow us to do this unless Direct Debits aren’t available in your country.

To find out more about paying your commission invoice by Direct Debit, take a look at this article.

We’ll process your payment one day after the check-in date, but it may take up to seven working days to appear in your bank account.

If you’re in North America, here’s how to download your commission invoices:

1. Log in to the extranet
2. Click on Finance and then click on Invoices
3. Choose the year you want to filter by
4. Click on Download pdf beneath the number of the invoice you want to download

To see the reservations included in each invoice, click on View statement beneath the invoice amount.

Each month, we’ll also email you payout documents with details of reservations that guests paid for online, plus any refunds. You can also download these payout documents. Here’s how to do it:

1. Log in to the extranet
2. Click on Finance and then click on Payout information
3. Click on the arrow next to the period you’re interested in to see a list of reservations

You’ll receive the total amount of your reservations plus any additional fees – unless these have been broken down per person and you’ve set them to be excluded in the extranet. If you’d like to let your guests pay these additional fees online, you can arrange this separately.

If you haven’t yet received a payment, this may be because we still need to receive your bank details to activate your account.

Here’s how to provide the information we need:

1. Log in to the extranet
2. Click on Finance and then click on Bank details
3. Under Receiving money from Booking.com, click on Add bank details
4. Enter your bank details
5. Click on Update bank details

Once you’ve provided this information and we’ve activated your account, we’ll process a payment for all your outstanding reservations. This should arrive in your bank account within seven working days.

If you’re in North America, here’s how to change the bank details we use to pay you:

1. Log in to the extranet
2. Click on Finance and then click on Bank details
3. Under Receiving payouts from Booking.com, click on Add bank details or Edit bank details
4. Enter your new bank details
5. Click on Update bank details

It can take up to six working days for your bank details to be fully updated in our system.

To find out more about updating your bank details, watch this tutorial video.

If you’re in North America, you pay commission just like any other partner, but some details in the extranet’s Finance section may appear slightly differently.

For more information about paying invoices, take a look at this article.

To find out how to view your invoices and payout documents if you’re located in North America, see section 4.2.

If your property is located in Brazil, you can find accurate information on the Payment solution offered in the extranet. 

However, there may be some scenarios where you’ll be required to pay us commission invoices separately. Learn more below in Section 5.13.

You can find information about this in section 1.2.

You can find information about this in section 1.7. For more details about paying local taxes in Brazil, see section 5.15.

You can find information about this in section 1.4.

You can find information about this in section 1.8.

You can find information about this in section 1.5.

Yes, continue managing reservations as you normally would. This includes letting us know about cancellations, no-shows and other issues related to reservations, so that we can make sure we don’t charge you commission for these reservations when there isn’t any due.

To learn more about how to do this, take a look at this article.

We’ll process your payments no later than the 15th day of the month after the guest checks out. If the day we'd usually process your payment is a public holiday, we’ll process it on the next working day. Depending on your bank, it may take a few days from when we send your payment for it to arrive in your account.

If you’re in Brazil, here’s how to download your commission invoices:

1. Log in to the extranet
2. Click on Finance and then click on Invoices
3. Choose the year you want to filter by
4. Click on Download pdf beneath the number of the invoice you want to download

To see the reservations included in each invoice, click on View statement underneath the invoice amount.

Each month, we’ll also email you payout documents with details of reservations that guests paid for online, plus any refunds. You can also download these payout documents. Here’s how to do it:

1. Log in to the extranet
2. Click on Finance and then click on Payout information
3. Click on the arrow next to the period you’re interested in to see a list of reservations

Here’s how to change the bank details we use to pay you:

1. Log in to the extranet
2. Click on Finance and then click on Bank details
3. Under Receiving payouts from Booking.com, click on Add bank details or Edit bank details
4. Enter your new bank details
5. Click on Update bank details

Here are a few things to keep in mind when you enter your bank details:

• Enter your four-digit agency number without the check digit
• Enter your account number with the check digit but without the dash, and if the check digit is X, replace it with a zero (0)
• Enter your CPF or CNPJ number with a dot (.), dash (-) or forward slash (/)

It can take up to six working days for your bank details to be fully updated in our system.

To learn more about updating your bank details, watch this tutorial video.

If you’re expecting a bank transfer payment but you haven’t received it yet, here are a few possible reasons and what you can do to fix them:

• If you haven’t added your bank details yet, you’ll need to do this before we can process your payment
• If your bank details are incorrect, you’ll receive a message via your extranet inbox telling you what you need to do next

You may have unpaid commissions for past reservations that guests didn’t pay for online. You can see which reservations guests paid for online by looking for the words Paid online in the Status column of each booking on the Reservations page in the extranet

If your bank rejected a bank transfer payment because your bank details were invalid, you’ll first need to update them in the extranet. Once you’ve done this, we’ll process a new bank transfer payment no later than the 15th day of the following month.

We’ll usually make a net payment to you each month for the total amount of your reservations minus the total amount of all your invoices.

But if the total amount of all your invoices is higher than the amount for your total reservations, we’ll make you a gross payment and send you a boleto for your unpaid commissions. We’ll send you a message via your extranet inbox letting you know that you need to pay the amount stated in the boleto.

This discrepancy can happen if you have outstanding commission fees for reservations that you handled payments for yourself – for example, before you joined Payments by Booking.com.

You received a boleto to pay because the amount you were entitled to receive from Booking.com was less than the amount you owe for commission. For more information about this, see Section 5.13.

A Nota Fiscal is a tax document we need to send you whenever we provide services to you. We’ll email you a Nota Fiscal each month as long as you’ve received bookings on our platform. You can also download these documents. Here’s how to do it:

1. Log in to the extranet
2. Click on Finance and then click on Invoices
3. Click on the invoice number you’re interested in to open the Nota Fiscal in a new window