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Managing Failed Transactions & Partial Payments

Victor
  • Updated

Subtitle: Resolve payment declines, manage balance discrepancies, and ensure full collection before check-in.

 

IMPORTANT:

  • Failed Transaction: A payment attempt that was rejected by the bank. Hostaway allows manual retries or guest card updates.
  • Partial Payment: A reservation where the total amount paid is less than the total balance. The system automatically tags these as Partially Paid.

 

1. How to Handle a Failed Transaction

When a transaction fails, its status changes to Failed in the transaction list. No money has been collected, and the reservation status remains "Unpaid" or "Partially Paid".

Step-by-Step: Retrying a Charge

  1. Go to Reservations > Guest Payments > Charges (or the specific reservation).
  2. Find the charge with the Failed status.
  3. Click the three dots (...) at the end of the row. 
  4. Select Retry Now.
    • Success: The status changes to Paid, and the reservation balance updates.
    • Failure: The status remains Failed. You should now ask the guest for a new payment method.

Sending a Guest Portal Link for Card Updates

If retries fail, the guest must provide a new card:

  1. Send the guest their unique Guest Portal Link via the Unified Inbox.
  2. The guest can securely update their credit card details under the Payment section of the portal.
  3. Once updated, you can manually trigger the retry again from the dashboard.

 

2. Managing Partial Payments

A reservation becomes Partially Paid if you have collected some funds (e.g., a 50% deposit) but a balance is still outstanding.

How to collect the remaining balance:

  • Automatic: If you have an Auto-payment rule for "Remaining Balance," the system will attempt to collect the rest on the scheduled date.
  • Manual: If you need to collect the rest immediately:
    1. Click Add Transaction in the reservation's payment section.
    2. Enter the specific amount needed to reach the total.
    3. Process the charge. Once successful, the status will automatically switch from Partially Paid to Paid.

 

3. Troubleshooting: Common Failure Reasons

Use this table to identify why a transaction failed and the recommended action:

Error Message / Code Meaning Recommended Action
Insufficient Funds The card does not have enough credit/balance. Ask the guest to use a different card or top up their account.
3D Secure / SCA Required The guest's bank requires mobile app verification. Send a Payment Link to the guest so they can verify the payment on their phone.
Expired Card The card is past its valid date. Ask the guest to update card details in the Guest Portal .
Generic Decline The bank blocked the charge for unspecified security reasons. The guest must call their bank to authorize "Hostaway" or "Stripe" payments.

 

4. Operational Pro-Tip: Protecting Your Revenue

To ensure you never grant access to a property without full payment, you can use Messaging Automation:

  • Configure your "Check-in Instructions" message to only send if the Payment Status is PAID.
  • If the status is Partially Paid or Unpaid, the guest will not receive the door codes until the balance is cleared.

 

5. Financial Impact

Partial payments are reflected in your Financial Reporting as "Collected Revenue" vs. "Pending Balance". Only charges marked as PAID (Online or Offline) are considered finalized for accounting purposes.

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