Payments company Planet has today launched an integrated Pay By Link service to improve operational management for hoteliers. Fully integrated to Oracle OPERA Property Management System (PMS), the new service saves time and staff resource in the hotel while simplifying complex payments.

As hoteliers look for new ways to deliver a better digital journey for guests, Pay By Link provides a convenient way to offer flexible payments through a secure web link. At the booking process, merchants can generate a link, which can be emailed, that takes guests to a secure payment page where they enter their card and authentication details. These digital payment services improve hotel omni-channel processing and increase safety as it limits interaction with staff at check-in. The process is easy and flexible for guests who can pay using their own device. This allows the hotels to provide a safer guest experience with limited staff contact, and fewer physical touchpoints.

When a Pay By Link transaction is processed and updated manually in the PMS, this is time consuming for staff and increases the potential for input errors. With the new integrated Pay By Link, the system will be automatically updated with the payment transaction instead of staff having to manually log it in the system. Integration with the PMS also ensures accurate payment tracking and easier back-end reconciliation.

Tim Goodwin, Chief Product & Technology Officer at Planet said: "We are delighted to be the first payment provider to launch an integrated Pay By Link product with Oracle OPERA PMS. This new service comes at a crucial time for hotels when they are looking to win back guest loyalty by offering safe, touch-free payment methods, which are convenient and simple. As a trusted expert within hospitality payments, Planet with 3C integration supports the digital payment strategies of our merchant partners with innovative technology and revenue generating services."

Planet's integrated Pay By Link service is fully hosted in a PCI level 1 environment, removing any compliance burden for the hotel. For added peace of mind for both merchant and guest, online security checks including 3DSecure authentication can be completed during the transaction making it fully PSD2 SCA compliant. Furthermore, Planet’s secure tokenisation service allows staff to retrieve transaction data and process additional payments throughout the guests stay.