Introducing Namastay Verify, a new feature to improve payment security

Providing an extra layer of security

Namastay Verify automatically verifies all credit cards used during the Namastay booking process. By adding the Namastay Verify option, hotels can easily implement automated card verification without having to change anything on their website or to go through the tedious process of a PSP integration. After verification, all the details of the success or failure of the verification and the failure reason will be displayed in the booking confirmation sent to the hotel, informing the booking team of suspicious or fraudulent payment card information from a guest.

How Namastay Verify works

We created a simple and flexible solution that allows hoteliers to secure bookings made on their website while retaining full control of the booking process.

• When a guest submits their card details, we contact the guests’ bank to perform a verification check, to understand whether the card used is legitimate
• Details of the success or failure of the verification and the failure reason will be included in the reservation comments, alongside deposit and add-on information
• Instead of declining bookings, Namastay Verify enhances your team’s decision making process, empowering them to take further action if they consider it required (such as contacting the client to reconfirm the payment card information)

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Credit card fraud in the hospitality industry

Did you know that one out of three credit card fraud happens in the hospitality industry? These credit card frauds end up causing a loss of up to 6% of annual revenue for hotels. This large amount of fraud in the industry can be explained by the lack of safety in payment and credit card processing in hotels. For example, on some hotels websites you can easily book a hotel room with automatically generated credit card numbers. As no card verification is done, the booking is processed and the room is unavailable for real customers.

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If you are already using Namastay as direct booking engine on your website, here are some answers to question that you may have about Namastay Verify. If you have any additional question that is not listed in this FAQ, do not hesitate to reach out to you Account Manager at Namastay.

FAQ

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• Where will I find verification details?‍

Payment card verification details will be found in the booking comments. Here are the different message you will be able to see in your booking comments:

- Verification Succeeded: Transaction Approved, Successful Verify

- Verification Failed: Your card was decline, This transaction requires authentication, Your card has insufficient funds, Expired API Key provided, Received unexpected 3DS authentication response, Your account cannot currently make live charges, You card number is incorrect, Your card's expiration month is invalid, Your card is not supported. Please use a Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Cartes Bancaires, or UnionPay card, Invalid Amount, Unable to process the transaction because the payment method has been redacted.

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• Why could a verification fail?

There are a number of reasons why the guest’s bank could fail the verification check. Reasons relating to fraud include use of fake details and reports of card misuse, however reasons such as too much activity on the card can lead to legitimate cards failing verification.

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• What should I do if a verification fails?

If a credit card fails the verification check, the decision on how to treat the booking remains with the hotel. If the booking seems otherwise legitimate the hotel may want to ignore this warning, or if not the front desk may wish to request additional information from the guest or ultimately cancel the booking.

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• How long do I have to respond to a verification status?

Once the verification result has been provided, how to proceed is the hotel’s decision. We recommend taking any desired action as soon as possible in order to provide the best experience for the guests.

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• Will I still be charged if I ultimately choose to cancel a booking?

Namastay does not currently charge for canceled bookings.

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• What do I need to do to enable this?

There is no action required from you in order to start using this feature - it will be automatically enabled starting April 24th.

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• Will I be charged additionally for this feature?

No. Namastay Verify will be free to use and enabled automatically for all Namastay clients from June 12th.

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