The global hospitality industry, projected to reach $5.71 trillion in 2025, offers a guest experience that includes a series of smaller moments: an easy check-in, a quick drink at the bar or a simple check-out after a long stay. Payments are part of many of these moments, but guests tend to not notice the payment process until there's an issue.

In hospitality, the payment experience should be well considered, from the first tap to the final receipt. Below, we'll explain what hospitality payment processing entails, how to do it well and how to build a setup that will scale as your business evolves.

What's in this article?

• What is hospitality payment processing and how does it work?
  
• What types of payment technology are used in hospitality?
  
• How do you choose the right hospitality payments provider?
  
• How do you future-proof your hospitality payment systems?
  

What is hospitality payment processing and how does it work?

Hospitality payment processing is what happens behind the scenes when a guest books a room, pays a restaurant bill or checks out of a spa. The process includes several steps, from accepting the payment to moving the funds into your business account, and it has to work across multiple touchpoints – often in real time.

What makes hospitality payments unique is the mix of channels and timing:

• Payments happen online and in person.
  
• Guests might pay in full up front or authorise a card for future charges.
  
• Charges can come from multiple locations (bar, concierge, kiosk or in-room tablet) but need to sync in one system.
  

Here's how it works across the guest experience:

Online bookings

A guest reserves a room or places a mobile food order. A payment gateway collects their card, digital wallet or bank info, confirms the charge and sends the booking through.

On-site payments

Guests pay in person by card or digital wallet at a restaurant or gift shop. Staff members use a card reader to collect payment and initiate payment processing.

Check-out or post-visit billing

Hospitality often includes multiple transactions: a guest might authorise a card at check-in, then charge meals, spa treatments or extras to their room. When it's time to settle up, the system finalises all pending charges and processes the payment (automatically, if a card is on file). Receipts are sent digitally or printed on request.

Guests want the flexibility to pay with whatever's in their pocket or on their phone – a physical debit card, virtual credit card or Apple Pay. Your payment setup needs to handle all of it – chip-and-PIN, digital wallets and more – without breaking the flow.

What types of payment technology are used in hospitality?

Your payment infrastructure needs to handle multiple payment methods quickly, safely and without interrupting the guest experience. Here's what that system typically includes:

Point-of-sale (POS) systems

The POS system is the centrepiece of most hospitality transactions. It captures guest payments – and in a good setup, it syncs with other systems such as inventory, menus or a guest's room folio.

Depending on your environment, that might look like:

• A touchscreen terminal at the front desk that integrates with your property management system (PMS)
  
• A mobile POS tablet for table-side ordering and payment in a restaurant
  
• A handheld payment device that staff members can bring to a guest's cabana or conference table
  

Modern POS systems handle EMV chip cards, swipe cards, contactless cards and digital wallets. They're increasingly built for mobility, so service isn't tied to a front desk or checkout counter.

Payment gateways for online transactions

A payment gateway powers the back end of online transactions – encrypting payment data, sending it to the processor and communicating success or failure to your site or booking engine.

In hospitality, a good gateway should support:

• Credit and debit cards
  
• Digital wallets (e.g. Apple Pay, Google Pay)
  
• Local payment methods (e.g. iDEAL, Pix, Financial Process Exchange [FPX])
  
• Buy now, pay later (BNPL)
  
• Flexible checkout flows (for upsells, add-ons or partial payments)
  

Contactless and mobile payments

Across the hospitality industry, guests expect to be able to pay with contactless payments (via cards, phones or wearables), whether at the front desk or the pool bar. These technologies speed up transactions, reduce handling and create modern, low-hassle experiences. They're now standard in fast-casual and luxury environments.

Main formats include:

• Terminals enabled with near-field communication (NFC) technology that support contactless card and digital wallet payments
  
• QR code payments, often used for self-serve ordering or in-room purchases
  
• Digital wallet integrations that let guests pay in a mobile app
  

Self-service kiosks and mobile checkout

Self-service options are common in hospitality. Hotels might offer check-in and check-out kiosks. In restaurants, guests might use touchscreen ordering stations. The payment systems need to:

• Authorise payments on the spot (and often pre-authorise for future charges)
  
• Sync with room or order systems
  
• Issue receipts or room keys automatically
  
• Support multi-language and accessibility features
  

Mobile check-out is another common offering. Hotels can text or email a check-out link and then guests can review charges and pay from their phone.

PMS-integrated payment systems

In hotels, the PMS is the heart of reservations, charges and guest data. Payments work best when they're built into that system. For example, the hotel platform SiteMinder uses Stripe to power SiteMinder Pay, which lets hotels accept payments from hundreds of global booking channels through one system.

A fully integrated PMS payment setup can:

• Auto-post charges from anywhere on the property to a guest's folio
  
• Handle pre-authorisations, adjustments and final captures without manual steps
  
• Ensure every department (spa, restaurant, minibar) flows into one billing source
  

Virtual card acceptance

Many hotels receive bookings through online travel agencies (OTAs) and receive payment via virtual credit cards. These are single-use cards issued by the OTA, pre-loaded with the reservation amount.

Because these cards often have expiry windows or limited-use rules, automated processing and timely reporting are key.

Embedded payment options across platforms

More hospitality software providers are embedding payment capabilities into their platforms. These reduce fragmentation and create a better guest experience – without requiring multiple vendor logins or manual hand-offs between systems.

For example:

• Restaurant platforms can include built-in checkout flows or QR pay.
  
• Hotel booking engines can integrate payment capture with saved guest profiles.
  
• Spa or event booking software might support deposits, instalments or add-on purchases.
  

How do you choose the right hospitality payments provider?

In hospitality, your payment system has to sync across departments, support a wide range of guest expectations and stay reliable during peak hours. Here's what to evaluate when you're choosing a provider:

Industry-specific integrations

Look for a payments provider that integrates easily with the systems you use to help reduce errors and manual tasks.

• Hotels: As a minimum, it should integrate with your PMS, booking engine and channel manager. It's also beneficial if it supports virtual cards from OTAs.
  
• Restaurants: It should work with your POS and, ideally, your online ordering and loyalty programmes.
  

Support for multiple payment methods

Your guests should never have to ask whether they can use a specific card. Check that your provider supports:

• Major card networks (e.g. Visa, Mastercard, American Express)
  
• Digital wallets (e.g. Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay)
  
• International/local methods if you serve a global audience (e.g. Alipay, iDEAL, Pix)
  
• BNPL options (e.g. Klarna, Afterpay/Clearpay)
  

Ease of use for staff and guests

Speed and clarity matter. Ask for demos from providers and involve your frontline staff in testing. If the system takes too long to learn, it'll create more problems than it solves. Your team needs to be able to process, refund and troubleshoot without workarounds:

• Physical terminals should be intuitive, fast and mobile when needed.
  
• Dashboards and reports should be straightforward and accessible.
  
• Guests should be able to check out online, split payments and get receipts easily.
  

Reliability and support

When something goes wrong, you need fast, competent help. Look for:

• 24/7 support, ideally from a team that understands hospitality workflows
  
• Strong uptime and performance history
  
• Transparent incident reporting and resolution practices
  

Security and compliance coverage

Your provider should help you stay compliant and reduce your risk exposure. That includes:

• Payment Card Industry (PCI) Level 1 certification
  
• Built-in tokenisation and encryption
  
• 3D Secure for online payments
  
• Fraud prevention and detection tools that run in the background
  
• Proactive security and compliance updates
  

Pricing transparency

Cost structure can be surprisingly opaque in payments. Some providers, such as Stripe, have transparent, pay-as-you-go pricing, while others have hidden fees. Know exactly what you'll pay for:

• Per-transaction fees (flat rate vs interchange plus)
  
• Monthly or annual account fees
  
• Terminal or hardware rental costs
  
• Chargeback fees
  
• Currency conversion
  
• Support, PCI compliance or reporting software, if they cost extra
  

Flexibility and room to grow

Your needs might change. A good provider should scale with you without making you rebuild your infrastructure.

Check whether they support:

• Multiple locations or business units
  
• Multi-currency settlement and cross-border support
  
• Application programming interfaces (APIs) or integrations you can build on as needed
  

Guest-facing features

Some payments providers offer features that improve the guest experience, including:

• Hosted checkout pages that you can customise to match your branding
  
• Payment links for remote or post-stay charges
  
• Stored payment methods for returning guests or loyalty members
  
• Automatic receipts, folios or booking confirmations
  

Reputation and real-world performance

Look for signs that the provider successfully supports hospitality businesses. Check whether:

• They work with businesses similar to yours
  
• They share case studies or examples in your segment
  
• They're trusted by your PMS or booking engine vendor
  
• Hospitality operators praise their day-to-day support
  

Stripe, for example, powers many of the platforms used in hospitality, supports 125-plus payment methods and uses real-time fraud detection to block potentially fraudulent charges. Whether you're starting a hospitality business or upgrading your systems, Stripe can simplify the payment process.

How do you future-proof your hospitality payment systems?

Payment systems shouldn't need a full rebuild every time guest behaviour changes or a new technology rolls out. Future-proofing means putting the right foundations in place so you can adapt without starting from scratch.

Here's how to do that:

Choose flexible, upgradable tech

Avoid systems that can't evolve. Providers such as Stripe continuously roll out support for new payment methods and updated anti-fraud solutions so businesses don't need to retrofit every year.

Look for solutions that:

• Are cloud-based or updated regularly
  
• Support software integrations and open banking APIs
  
• Add payment methods and compliance features without custom development
  

Go omnichannel now

Unifying online, mobile and in-person payments sets you up for scale. A centralised system helps you:

• Keep guest data and payment history in sync
  
• Provide consistent experiences across channels
  
• Easily add sales or booking touchpoints
  

Prioritise security by design

Security standards are always evolving, but the goal is to stay ahead of breaches and regulation shifts without needing emergency fixes or major replacements later. Invest in:

• PCI-compliant providers that handle tokenisation and encryption
  
• EMV and NFC-capable hardware
  
• Providers that stay current with evolving fraud and privacy laws
  

Be ready for emerging payment methods

You don't need to adopt every payment method right away, but you should be in a position to say yes when it matters. That means monitoring trends such as pay by bank, biometric checkout or crypto, and choosing providers that add payment types without a full migration.

Build for scalability

As your business grows, so will your payment volume and detailed day-to-day work. Future-proofed systems should:

• Handle multi-location or multi-property setups
  
• Support international payments and multi-currency settlement
  
• Scale performance during seasonal spikes or events
  
• Provide centralised dashboards for visibility across the operation
  

Train your team

No system is future-ready if your staff can't use it. Invest in programs that are easy to learn and keep training up-to-date as systems evolve.

Use your payment data

Payment systems generate valuable insights. Don't let that data go dark. The better your visibility, the easier it is to spot where you're falling behind or where to lean in. Make sure you can:

• Track trends in payment method usage
  
• Monitor fraud attempts and chargeback rates
  
• Spot bottlenecks in the checkout flow
  
• Feed payment data into broader guest analytics
  

Plan for the unexpected

As hospitality businesses learned during the COVID-19 pandemic, resilience matters. Future-proofing means choosing infrastructure that's built to adapt. It should be modular, updatable, safe and flexible. That way, when guest expectations shift or a new channel emerges, your payments are ready.

Look for systems that:

• Let you accept remote or contactless payments if needed
  
• Can be managed off-site or through mobile dashboards
  
• Have redundancy if a terminal or integration fails
  
• Keep your business running even when the normal workflow breaks