FAQ: Booking Holdings Financial Services
About
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We set up Booking Holdings Financial Services (BHFS) to process payments on our platform. If you’re located in the European Economic Area (EEA), BHFS refers to Booking Holdings Financial Services International Limited, which is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland.
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BHFS will handle all your payments on the Booking.com platform. If eligible, you’ll be asked to agree to BHFS’ terms and conditions (the BHFS Payments Agreement) and complete the BHFS Know Your Partner (KYP) form to identify yourself.
We don't expect anything in your day-to-day operations to change once BHFS starts processing payments for you. However, see this article on activating and processing payments with BHFS to learn more.
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BHFS helps us enhance the safety, security, and reliability of payments related to your use of the Booking.com platform. It also increases our ability to prevent fraud and other financial crimes, enabling you and your guests to make and receive safe and secure payments.
The ability to provide you regulated payment services allows us to lay the foundation for introducing new improvements and scaling our payments services in the future. This means we can innovate and offer top-notch payment services that will deliver more value to you and your guests.
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BHFS will launch its payment services in phases across our markets, starting with select partners in certain member countries of the European Economic Area (EEA). In the upcoming months, BHFS will gradually take on the role of Payments by Booking.com as our new payment service provider.
This phased approach allows us to validate the operating model and effectiveness of the transition, ensuring the operational readiness of our new payment service provider.
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While there won’t be any immediate impact on the services from our platform and your payment services will continue in the short-term, this may change as we scale our payment services through BHFS.
We recommend completing the KYP form within 90 days to avoid any interruption to your payment services. After this period, our platform services will remain available to you, but we may discontinue our payment services.
Verification
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BHFS needs to verify your identity so we stay compliant with its regulatory obligations. The documents needed to verify your identity can be uploaded through the BHFS KYP form. This is a three-part account verification form used to gather data about the property’s ownership, your identity, and your bank details (if applicable).
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You can access the KYP form by clicking the banner on the Extranet. We’ll also email you an invitation to fill out the form.
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If you have all the necessary documents at hand, the KYP form will only take five to ten minutes to complete.
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You can only submit the KYP form after you’ve completed all the fields. You can’t edit, view, or modify your information after submitting. If you leave the KYP form unfinished, it will stay in the “verification” stage. During this stage, you’ll see a banner on the Extranet – this link will allow you to access and modify your info.
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You won’t be able to make any changes after you submit the form. We’ll reach out if we need more information to complete the KYP process.
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You can always access the form using the link you received by email, or by clicking on the banner on the Extranet. The link in the email and banner will stay active until you complete and submit the KYP form.
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Any invalid data or verification errors will be highlighted in the form.
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Everything you enter is saved when you click “Save and continue” at the bottom of each KYP form page. This information will be displayed when you access the form again. If you close the page without clicking “Save and continue,” your data won’t be saved.
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After you submit the KYP form, we’ll review and verify the information. We’ll notify you by email when the KYP process is complete, or if additional information is required. Later, we'll also let you know when BHFS will start processing your payments. This will be your BHFS activation date. If BHFS needs more information to complete the KYP process, we’ll let you know what actions you need to take.
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No, this isn’t possible.
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No, we’ll contact you once the verification process is complete, or if we need more information.
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Yes, it will.
Personal information
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We need it to verify your identity and ensure the security of all our partners.
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The party we're in contract with is responsible for completing the KYP form. They're required to invite associated parties—such as anyone with 25% or more ownership of the property—to be represented in the KYP form. If you’re a property manager, you can disclose the role of each associated party member separately.
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If you want to change an additional individual’s email address (i.e. anyone added under “property ownership and management”), you can return to the KYP form anytime before submission to remove and replace an email address.
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We’re required to store terminated account information for six years after the date an account is terminated/closed. Your information will be stored securely for the duration, then safely deleted. For more information, see our Privacy Notice.
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We’re committed to keeping you and your business safe. That’s why we employ an array of people, tools, and procedures to ensure your personal information is always used securely and in compliance with any applicable privacy requirements. Read more about how we handle your personal info in the BHFS Privacy Statement.
Payments
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Once activated, you’ll receive payouts for reservations via the method you selected. The main difference is the payouts will come from BHFS instead of Booking.com B.V.
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Yes.
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No, you don’t need to pay additional fees for BHFS’ payment services. Any fee arrangements you currently have with Booking.com B.V. will remain unaffected.
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Once you enter the BHFS Payments Agreement and BHFS successfully verifies the information provided in the KYP form, we’ll let you know when BHFS is ready to start processing your payments.
KYP attachments
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The size limit is 20MB.
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We recommend uploading an ID that doesn’t expire within six months. If you upload one that’s close to its expiration date, we’ll reach out and ask for a valid ID once its expiration date passes.
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This is normal. Once a file is uploaded successfully, you’ll see a checkmark symbol meaning it’s complete. You won’t receive any further confirmation until you successfully submit the completed KYP form.
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This isn’t a problem because we ask for verification from the party we have a contract with, as well as from associates who hold 25% or more ownership of the property.
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Address documents (e.g. bank statements, utility bills, credit card statements) can be resubmitted during the upload stage. You can retake ID photos in the review stage by clicking “Take a new photo.” However, you can’t re-upload files after the submission of the form.
Technical
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If they didn’t receive the email, ask them to check their spam folder first. If there’s no email from us there, make sure the individual’s email address is correct on the KYP form.
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If you’re getting an error message after multiple attempts to submit the KYP form, reach out to your support team.
The BHFS Payments Agreement
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Because BHFS will be providing you with payment services. Review the BHFS Payments Agreement to understand how it applies to you.
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BHFS will process payments relating to your use of the Booking.com platform. These include payments made on our platform by your guests when they make a reservation.
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Your agreement with Booking.com B.V. will continue to apply during your migration to BHFS. Your payments will be handled as usual until BHFS starts processing payments for you.
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The BHFS Payments Agreement only concerns the processing of payments. It doesn't affect the provision of the Booking.com platform or other services offered under your agreement with Booking.com B.V. Furthermore, the BHFS Payments Agreement contains certain information required by payment service regulations, such as how you can raise a complaint with BHFS.
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There are limitations on your liability to BHFS under the BHFS Payments Agreement. In any 12-month period, your liability is capped at EUR 100,000 and the aggregate commission you’ve paid us during that period. This is subject to exclusions.
BHFS’ liability to you is also capped, but its obligations to settle payments to you or address problems that might arise during payment processing aren’t capped.
If you’re a large business, you’ll indemnify BHFS and Booking.com against losses connected to certain claims brought by third parties. The liability cap doesn’t apply to these indemnity payments. Refer to clause 16 of the BHFS Payments Agreement for more information.
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Your rights will vary depending on the size of your business. You can find these details in your BHFS Payments Agreement. Generally, all partners using BHFS can expect that:
- BHFS will provide you with regular information about your payments on the Extranet.
- If BHFS processes a payment incorrectly or processes an unauthorized payment, you may have the right to a refund if you ask for it within a certain time period.
- If you make a complaint and BHFS can’t resolve it, you have the right to take it to an external and independent complaints body.
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When you enter into the BHFS Payments Agreement, your obligations will include:
- Providing and updating BHFS with the information it needs to comply with its legal obligations
- Acting within the law
- Following any guidelines provided to you, which allow BHFS to meet its obligations to third-party payment processors (e.g. guidelines for rules set by Visa and Mastercard)
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BHFS can terminate the BHFS Payments Agreement for any reason with at least two months' notice. For larger businesses, the notice period is 15 days. BHFS has the right to terminate the agreement more quickly—or immediately—in certain circumstances (e.g. any reason to believe you’re breaking the law or have seriously or repeatedly breached the BHFS Payments Agreement).
BHFS can also suspend payouts or terminate the BHFS Payments Agreement without notice if there’s reason to believe there’s a threat to security.
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BHFS can make changes to the BHFS Payments Agreement for a variety of reasons, but must give you at least two months’ notice. In certain cases, BHFS can change the agreement more quickly, including when it’s necessary for BHFS to meet its legal obligations, or if you’re a larger business.
If you disagree with a change, you can end the BHFS Payments Agreement on the Extranet anytime before the change takes effect.
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BHFS has the right to:
- Decline or delay the settlement of payout amounts when the payment or booking is unlawful, or where there’s reason to believe it’s necessary to protect BHFS or Booking.com against an increased risk of you not meeting your financial obligations. However, BHFS must pay any delayed payments once the reason for the delay no longer exists.
- Set off amounts or other liabilities you owe to a member of the Booking Holdings Group of companies against amounts or other liabilities that they owe you.
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No, it isn’t. While your agreement with Booking.com B.V. is governed by Dutch law if you're in the EEA, the BHFS Payments Agreement is governed by Irish law and falls within the jurisdiction of Irish courts.
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Guest Policies & Payments
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- Allowing guests to book without credit card details
- Can I set up the same policies for all of my properties all at once?
- How can I set up a grace period?
- Managing my services charges
- Updating your internet, pets, and parking policies
- Setting up or changing your property’s policies
- Setting up cancellation policies
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- Do I supply guests with invoices?
- Accessing guests’ credit card details
- How do I set up pre-authorization for guests' credit cards?
- Everything you need to know about damage policy options
- Handling invalid credit cards
- How do I change my payment preferences and which credit cards I accept?
- Setting up a prepayment policy
- How do I handle guest payments?
- Everything you need to know about Strong Customer Authentication
- Understanding the new cash payment feature in your Guest Payment Options
- Payments: FAQs
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- Introducing payment services from Booking.com
- Payments by Booking.com: FAQs
- Understanding Payments by Booking.com
- How much Payments by Booking.com costs
- Everything you need to know about virtual credit cards
- Refunding virtual credit cards (VCCs)
- Understanding when your virtual credit cards are activated
- Card validation and fee collection solution
- Card validation and fee collection solution for connected partners
- US Payments Ranking Benefit: How extra visibility in search results works for US properties using Payments by Booking.com
- Activating and processing payments with Booking Holdings Financial Services
- Identifying and verifying property owners for Booking Holdings Financial Services
- Submitting a complaint about Booking Holdings Financial Services
- FAQ: Booking Holdings Financial Services
- Payments FAQs for property management companies in the US and Canada