technology
Doing what you Love and Getting Paid: the need for a Payment Gateway.
Getting paid. It’s an important part of your business, right?! As a small business owner, you went into business because you LOVE what you do AND you wanted to get paid for it. It’s a wonderful match, so you’ll want to make sure you know how to achieve this. In order to get paid for the service you provide, you need a payment gateway. 
What’s a Payment Gateway, you ask? In short, the payment gateway is what allows you to take online payments, and is the bridge between your booking platform and your bank account. If you own a rental business or a tour company, and want your customers to not only book online, but also pay online, then getting a payment gateway is the way to go.
Payment Gateways are a great asset to your business and gives you and your customer the piece of mind that is needed when purchasing a service online. Some of the key features are Security, Convenience, and Compatibility.
Security: This is probably the most important feature when considering taking payments. This means choosing a payment gateways that is equipped with fraud prevention and one that is compliant with PCI standards such as data encryption when storing credit card information.
Convenience: Having a payment gateway allows you to receive purchases and bookings 24/7. It alleviates you from having to get the customer’s credit card information, and manually enter it to get paid. It all happens in an instant with a payment gateway, and you’re paid right away.
Compatibility: You’ll want to select a Payment Gateway that easily integrates into your platform. In addition, if you’re using a booking system to take online bookings, make sure you confirm that the two systems can connect. This is ideal so that your customers can book and pay all within the same system. Talk about a seamless experience!
So, how much does this all cost? A payment gateway will charge fees on processing a transaction for you. Fees usually are structured per each credit card transaction. A common price structure would be 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction (higher rates apply for international). Take note of other fees that apply such as for refunds, chargebacks, and perhaps a monthly fee. Make sure you know up front what all the fees are so there are no surprises.
Now, who to choose? Do your research! This is a big choice and there are many options out there. Make sure it meets the needs of your business and use these tips here to help you decide which is right for you. Some of the biggest players in this industry that all have great reputations, and meet these 3 key aspects of security, convenience, and compatibility are Stripe, Authorize.net , and PayPal.
Stripe added as a Payment Processor
Welcome to 2018! We’re excited for the new year, and happy to announce that we’ve added a new option to our list of compatible payment processors: Stripe. 
To get an account with Stripe, visit their website to create an account.
If you have an existing Stripe account, you can add the integration to your WebReserv account easily.
To do so, log into your WebReserv account, and go to the Setup – Business Information. Select Payments from the left column.
First, you’ll want to enable the credit card option in the Payment Processing section. Select Creditcard, and Auto Process.
Next, in the Payment Gateway section, select Stripe from the drop down menu. Here you will enter your Secret Key from your Stripe account. (Note: you can access your Secret Key through the Dashboard of your Stripe account.) After you add the secret key, save your changes by clicking Save and continue at the bottom of the page. 
That’s it! You’ve successfully setup the integration with Stripe.
After setup is complete, you’ll want to make a test transaction to ensure it is working properly. The system allows you to enter a test transaction through the Payment Center. To access, go to Frontdesk – Payment Center. Select the ePay Virtual Terminal option.
Here you can enter a small transaction using a credit card to ensure that you get an authorization. To do so, select Payment (type), Credit Card (payment type), and enter a small amount – $0.10 will work fine.
Enter the credit card details. Choose the Process Payment button at the bottom of the page. If you get an authorization, then the setup is working correctly.
You can now begin taking payments for your bookings. For more information on WebReserv, visit our website, or contact us here.
The 7 Crucial Steps To Get More Bookings
You have a website and you think it looks good but you feel like your business could be doing better and earning more money. It is important that customers make their bookings with you and not your competition, so here are 7 critical steps to improve your bookings this year. Commit to doing one step every day and you’ll be ahead of the competition in a week.
Step 1. Update Your Website. Time: 4 – 8 hours
When was the last time your website was updated? If it’s out of date, make it a goal to get it refreshed before the season starts.
If website design is not your passion or your skill, you can consider using website companies such as Wix.com or Weebly.com. They offer great looking websites with very little work.
If you decide to build or buy a new website, make sure it’s easy to understand, complete and responsive. Responsive means that the page automatically adjusts to the screen it’s being shown on, thus, giving the customer a great experience whether he or she is using a laptop, a tablet, or a smartphone. Read the rest of this entry »
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