On-line payments

The modern way of paying for services is now a standard part of many business. With the connection to the online gateway you have the possibility to streamline the booking process and use direct payments for booked services directly through the reenio system. The reenio system primarily implements one of the best GoPay payment gateways, which guarantees payments in various ways you choose. By connecting the system to the GoPay payment gateway, you will be able to receive instant payments from your customers via credit cards, instant transfers, bank buttons, Bitcoins, Google Pay, Apple Pay, etc. greater impact on customers and their reservations. Check if these premium payment gateway is available in your country!

In addition to this payment gateway, it is also possible to integrate universal gateway The Pay. Also another gateways GP webpay and ČSOB can be connected. However, these payment gateways are no longer universal and only provide on-line credit/debit card payments. These mentioned payment gateways are particularly suitable for European markets, given the countries and currencies supported by each payment gateway provider.

Another and worldwide effective payment gateway that can be used in the system is global payment gateway STRIPE. It is a modern payment gateway, the main advantage of which is that everything is done online. Setting up an account, setting up a payment gateway and starting receiving payments from customers can be a matter of hours! The principle of operation of these gateways and the method of integration are very similar to the procedures below. For more information on how to integrate these payment gateways, see your system administration.

In addition to direct on-line payments, the system is able to provide support for classical payments by transfer or via payment terminal or by cashdesk.

On-line payments are available in the reenio system for all users using the BUSINESS or PREMIUM subscriptions. In the case of the FREE version, it is possible to configure and test on-line payments, but only in the gateway testing environment.

How to get started with online payments

Running an online payment depends on a few key factors, which you can choose according to your needs and type of business. When integrating a payment gateway, it is important to think about these parameters as it can affect some of your business operations and billing.

1. Setting and applying VAT rates - in the system administration, you can freely manage different VAT rates (with respect to legislation) and then assign them to individual prices for events. These VAT rates are based on the assumption that your entity is a VAT payer - the system supports the payment process for both VAT and non-VAT payers.
2. Setting prices for individual events - each event that can be reserved can have a price setting (total or per unit, depending on the type of event). Here it is important to think and set the prices you want to pay at the time of making the reservation. Prices are always set as final, i.e. including VAT. It is calculated as part of the price for the services reserved at the set rate. The price can also be adjusted using the reservation form or discount codes.
3. Setting accounting parameters - Supplier information is required to issue correct accounting documents to individual customers. These will be displayed on the issued documents (PDF format). This data can be automatically taken from the entity settings or can also be set up completely differently.
4. Setting up payment gateway parameters - conection of the reenio system and the payment gateway is a key step for the subsequent launch of online payments. To do this, you need to register and obtain a merchant account with a specific gateway and then enter the obtained parameters into the reenio system. All other settings regarding the payments themselves, payment gateway design, etc. are already made on the administration page of the merchant account of the payment gateway. To test the overall functionality, it is possible to use the test environment.
5. Verification of functionality in the test environment - before the actual launch of online payments for customers, it is necessary to verify the correct functionality of the payment gateway on your reservation page. In this test environment you can test the entire reservation process and payment process without requiring real financial transactions. For example, here is information about the test process via the GoPay payment gateway.
6. Online payment activation - the last step is the actual authorization for online payments by the payment gateway provider. From now, the reservation system will offer online payments for making reservations that have a defined price. If a payment request is set up (globally or for individual event), unpaid reservations will be automatically cancelled after defined period of time from a moment of creation.

After successful setup and validation (point 5), you will usually need to request the provider to approve the implemented solution and switch to a real payment gateway. This validation will require the verification of certain elements without which the payment gateway will not work in live mode. These include, but are not limited to, entity verification, owner identification, and point of sale verification (posted terms and conditions, claims policy, etc.) The overall process of deploying the payment gateway may take several days to weeks, depending on the formal requirements and issues.

Overview of on-line payments

An on-line payment always has a direct link to a specific booking, regardless of its outcome. In practice, this means that more than one payment can be registered for a single reservation, but only one successfully completed. This is due to the fact that the payment within the process was not approved (detailed information about individual payments can be found in the payment gateway administration). Within the reservation system, you can view individual linked payments, their status or timing within the reservation details. This can be important in solving problem situations between you and your customer.

The main overview of all on-line payments can be found on a separate page. This report only includes payments processed on-line through a payment gateway and provides some important information and features:

• Payments summary - Overview of all completed, unfinished or unfinished payments. In the report, you can always verify the customer who made the payment, the payment details, the total amount of the payment, etc.
• Payment detail - for each payment you can display a detail where you can find information about the payment progress. This is especially important when solving problems with the client, when it is possible to reconstruct the payment process unambiguously using time stamps (typically in the case of payment of already canceled reservation).
• Refund - reenio can refund via the payment gateway interface. When returning the payment, you can specify how much to return and whether to cancel the reservation, etc. The refund is visually differentiated and there is a corresponding tax document (part of the PDF file of the original payment)!
• Download of documents - generated accounting document is a necessary part of every payment. In case of on-line payments, the system creates the system automatically, according to the set parameters. The document in the form of a PDF file is also provided to the customer (by e-mail/in his personal profile).
• Export of payments - to be able to further process payments and include them in the accounts, an export function is available. It can be in various formats and always contains data that corresponds to the current filtering settings of the payment overview (eg only payments in the state of paid), or a special type of export with the possibility of time filtering designed for your accountant.

Payment for reservation

For a clearer picture, a model example of the reservation and payment process is described below:

1. The customer makes a reservation and presses the button to confirm it and start payment for this reservation. The payment gateway form (GUI) is then displayed.
2. The customer enters their card details or selects the appropriate payment method into the payment gateway.
3. The payment gateway forwards the payment information to a partner processor who sends the transaction to the relevant card association (e.g. VISA or MasterCard) or another entity, e.g. a bank. This will link the transaction to the bank that issued the card or operates the account through which the customer made the payment.
4. There are usually additional steps that follow to authorise the customer (logging into online banking) or to confirm a specific transaction (two-factor authentication using an app).
5. If everything is in order, information about the successful payment and its authorization is transmitted back to the payment gateway. If something is not right (insufficient funds, limits, wrong authorisation, etc.), the payment is marked as unsuccessful and the information is passed back as well.
6. The payment gateway processes the information and informs the customer and the merchant respectively the reservation system about the payment status. If the bank approves the payment, the payment gateway increase the merchant's account balance by the payment amount and/or applies fees.
7. If the payment is confirmed, the reservation is marked as paid in the system. If the reservation is not paid within a certain time period, which can be set in the reservation system, the reservation will be automatically cancelled! If the system receives the information later and the reservation is already cancelled, the merchant is informed of this in the administration and the situation must be solved individually and manually.
8. Based on the negotiated billing frequency, the funds are transferred from the payment gateway's merchant account to the merchant's bank account.

Any reservation that corresponds to a price can be recorded as paid in the system, even if you do not use an on-line payment gateway or other form of receiving payments. In the case of automated payment instruments, this status is adjusted automatically (the reservation is in the Paid state and the payment method is set to the payment gateway), however you can also change this status manually in the administration. Thanks to this it is possible to solve the receipt of payments outside the reservation system and only to record the payment of the reservation.

This manual editing of payment status may also be useful when you require payments in the system, but you need to make reservations (eg for partners, direct ticket sales, etc.) without having to pay via a payment gateway. In this case, manually set new reservations in the administration to the status Paid and so they will not be automatically canceled after the time expires for payment!

In case of manual setting of the payment, it is also possible to enter information how the payment was made (by credit card at the terminal, cash, etc.). At the same time, it is also possible to make payments with customer credits, which is recorded and processed separately.

Time to pay the reservation

Two factors are important in relation to the process of paying for newly created reservations, whether a reservation is required and what is the time to pay for a new reservation.

If the system is set to require payment of the reservation (globally for the whole system or within a specific deadline setting), this reservation will be created by default (to ensure capacity blocking, etc.) and the set time limit starts to run. During this time limit, the booking must be paid by the customer. If the customer fails, the reservation is automatically canceled!

If the system (or deadline) does not require payment and you still use an on-line payment gateway, it is entirely up to the customer whether or not to pay the reservation. The reservation will not be automatically canceled after the set time. In these cases, unpaid bookings are expected to be settled when using the on-site service, eg by paying in cash at the front desk or using the SumUp terminal .

This is also related to hiding the customer's booking code if a payment is required (Settings - Reservation Page - Advanced Settings), which ensures that the customer will not be able to use the code if he or she does not pay for the reservation within the specified time.

We recommend choosing the time to pay for the reservation so as to provide sufficient comfort for the customers, but at the same time it does not provide unnecessary space for customer omissions and unnecessary blocking of booked capacity or number of seats. For on-line payment methods, the ideal time to make payments in hours is ideal.

Deposit payments

In some situations, it is not possible to require online payment at the time of booking. In these cases, it is ideal to use a deposit payment, i.e. only part of the final booking price.

The value of the reservation can be divided into two components in the form of a deposit and a supplementary payment, where the amount of the deposit can be set as a fixed amount or a percentage of the total calculated price of the reservation. Requiring payment of a deposit can be of two types - mandatory payment of only the deposit; payment of only the deposit or the full amount (the choice is up to the customer).

Once the customer has paid the deposit, a receipt is generated for this payment, with the remaining amount recorded as a balance on the booking. When the customer arrives, the balance of the reservation value needs to be paid. This can be resolved by simply marking the reservation as Paid in full or the balance can be received through the checkout. In this case, the previously paid deposit is also taken into account on the invoice and deducted from the base price so that only the actual balance is charged.

Payment return

If the reservation is Paid and needs to be canceled, there are several scenarios. The basis is that a reservation made through a registered payment cannot be canceled directly by the customer himself. This is due to the fact that in connection with With a refund, there are some expenses and it is up to you (business terms) how to deal with these situations. If the reservation is paid with credits, automatic cancellation and refunds are possible depending on the settings.

The system can help you with a refund by informing you when you cancel your reservation and offering solutions. These options include cancellation of a reservation without a refund, full refund or partial refund. It is up to you what scenario you use, however, the system itself automatically ensures a possible refund of the financial amount, using communication with the on-line payment gateway. In this case, there is no need to deal with the refund otherwise than in the administration of the reservation system. If the reservation is canceled with a different type of payment, it is necessary to deal with the customer directly outside the reservation system.

You can also work with individual payments in your Payouts report and return them separately. In practice, this means that the system again monitors the reservation status for the payment and offers possible scenarios. This approach is particularly useful in situations where multiple payments are registered for a single reservation or there is a payment received for a reservation that has already been booked. These situations are caused by customers who make a payment more than once or fail to make a reservation limit when they work with old booking information (such as when the booking details page is open in the browser for a long time).