Send payment request links via SMS or email

Make taking payments easier and safer for your venue and guests. When guests call to book, take payment using payment request links from Venue Manager. This guide shows you how to do it and gives tips for the best ways to use them.

Benefits of using payment links

• Adherence to the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) ensures the protection of cardholder data and minimizes fraud risks.
• Guests can make payments securely on their own devices.
• Responsibility for chargebacks shifts from the venue to the bank.
• Supports various payment methods (credit card, Google Pay, Apple Pay, PayPal).
• When a payment request link is sent for a tentative booking with a hold period, the booking automatically cancels if it's not paid by the deadline, freeing up space for new sales, and saving you time in monitoring unpaid payment links.

Best practices

1. Offer payment link options (SMS or email) when guests call to book.
2. Use tentative bookings to reserve spaces for a set time. This helps prevent revenue loss from unused spaces and guests can pay at a time that's convenient to them within the set time.
3. Alternatively, request immediate payment during the phone call and guide the guest through the payment process. Watch the video to see how. 
   
   
   

Send payment request links

1. From Venue Manager, go to Bookings.
2. Create a new booking or open an existing booking that hasn't yet been paid in full.
3. If it's a new booking and the guest can't pay immediately, consider holding the booking tentatively for a fixed time period (eg 3 days).
   
   If a guest fails to pay for their booking within the hold period, the slot becomes available for other potential guests.
   
   
4. Make sure you enter the guest's details. You'll need these details to send the payment link. 
5. Select Take payment at the top of the page.
6. Send payment request is selected by default. 
   
   
7. If needed, adjust the payment amount.
   
   The amount defaults to the full cost or outstanding payment amount of the booking, or the deposit (if a deposit has been set up for the product). You can also select a custom amount.
   
   
8. Select to send the payment request link by email or SMS. The email or phone number autofills with the booking holder's contact details.
9. Select Send request. 
   
   
   Fees apply for payment links sent via SMS. 

Guest receives payment request link via SMS or email 

Guests receive a payment request link via SMS or email, allowing them to make immediate payments while on the phone. The payment status is automatically updated in ROLLER. 

For tentative bookings:

• Guests can pay at a time that's convenient to them.
• The payment deadline is clearly stated in the message, incentivizing timely payment.
• Guests can click the link or a "Pay now" to open the online payment form, enter their details, then submit payment.
• If the guest does not pay by the specified deadline, the link becomes inactive, and the tentative booking is automatically canceled.

Payment link SMS with deadline:

Payment link email with deadline:

The payment link email includes when the payment is due by.

It also includes an Order section to show the guest exactly what they're paying for, providing better context and credibility, and a Security note to reassure guests that their data is secure. These features aim to help boost the conversion rate of these emails. 

Automated follow up

• When the guest completes the payment successfully, they receive an order confirmation email with a receipt.
• The payment status updates in ROLLER, and if the booking was Tentative, the status updates to Confirmed. 
• If the payment is not made by the deadline for tentative bookings, the booking is automatically canceled, and the guest is informed via email. 
• The booking status updates to Canceled in ROLLER
• The space taking up by the hold is automatically available for sale again.

Example tentative booking cancelation email

Below is an example of the tentative booking cancelation email.

Manage payment links in the booking's activity stream

Within the booking's activity stream, you can copy, cancel or resend the payment link.

• Copy link: Copy the payment request link to send via an alternative channel that you use to communicate with guests. You can also paste the link in a new browser tab to open the guest's unique payment form to help guide them through the payment process. 
• Cancel payment link: Manually cancel the payment link. 
• Resend: Resend the payment link by the initial method selected (SMS or email).

Can payment links expire?

Payment links do not expire unless:

• You've set a hold period to tentatively reserve the booking until payment is made. When the hold period expires, the booking is automatically cancelled and the payment link is no longer available. Learn more about how to set up and use tentative bookings
• The booking is paid for using another method (eg at POS).
• You manually cancel the payment link from the booking activity stream.

Text/SMS fees

A small fee applies per payment link sent via text/SMS which differs based on the venue country and billing currency. Refer to the guide Text/SMS fees. 

Monitor the status of payment links

Track the status of unpaid payment request links and invoices using the Payment Links report in Venue Manager. Go to Reports > All reports, then select the Payment Links report.

To make a default view which only shows unpaid links:

1. From the Booking status filter, select Partially paid and Pending.
2. From the Payment link status filter, select Pending.
3. Select Apply filters in the top right.
4. Select the down arrow ( ⌄ ), then save the filtered report as a new view. Name it Unpaid links.
   
   
   
   
5. Select Make default. Then, every time you access the report, it will show unpaid payment links to follow up.
   
   
   
   
6. Select a booking ID link to access the guest's contact and booking details and follow up as needed.