The difference between Booking Experts Collect and Advertiser Collect
When installing certain distribution apps, you must determine which party is responsible for the financial processing of reservations. For each of these apps, you can choose to arrange this either via Booking Experts Collect or via Advertiser Collect. In this, the so-called Advertiser is the external party. Which option suits you best depends on your preferences and your work processes. Here, you will find all the information you need to make an informed choice.
The apps that need you to make this choice are Booking.com, HomeToGo, Vrbo, and Expedia. Other channels may also ask you to make a similar choice.
Booking Experts Collect:
Payments are processed through Booking Experts. The invoice for your guests is created in the PMS, and payments are made through Booking Experts. As an accommodation provider, you bear the responsibility and have control. The channel may charge a commission, but this happens according to your contract and not via the PMS.
Advantages:
- Central control: All payments are processed directly within Booking Experts, offering you clear insights.
- Consistency in invoicing: Invoices are generated according to the settings in Booking Experts, which is useful for your administration and compliance.
- Faster access to payments: You receive payments directly, without having to rely on payouts from the channel.
Disadvantages:
- More responsibility: You are responsible for the entire payment process, including refunds and any payment problems.
- Complexity: Additional steps may be required to properly organise your payment transactions and accounting.
When you choose Booking Experts Collect or Advertiser Collect, this also determines certain overlapping settings in the linked channel in your PMS. Here you will no longer be able to choose between ‘Reseller’ or ‘Tour Operator’.
Advertiser Collect:
Payments are processed by the channel. The guest pays the channel, and the channel pays you according to the channel invoices created in the PMS. The channel bears responsibility towards the guest.
Advantages:
- Less administrative hassle: The channel handles the payments, saving you time.
- Simple connection: Channel invoices are prepared by your Booking Experts PMS, minimising the attention required for payment processing.
- With certain channels you can use virtual credit cards (VCC). This makes charging channel invoices even simpler.
Disadvantages:
- Dependence on the channel: Payouts depend on the channel's payment processes, which can cause delays.
- Less control: You have less insight into and influence on the payment status of guests, which can cause problems with cancellations or disputes.
- Costs: The channel may charge extra fees for processing payments (on your behalf).
Advertiser Collect & Virtual Credit Cards
In combination with BEX Payments, certain channels such as Booking.com and Expedia allow the use of virtual credit cards. If a guest books through this channel and pays online, the channel creates a virtual credit card for the exact amount of the reservation/channel invoice. The details of this virtual credit card are shared, so you can charge the amount of the reservation. This way you can quickly collect on a channel invoice.
Have you already chosen one of these collect methods, but want to change to the other one? Read Changing the Collect method to find out how.