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Accepting multiple currencies is a key component of a wider mission to personalise the guest experience. Although multicurrency payment processing is more sophisticated than ever, large hotel chains still face challenges when integrating it across all platforms and sales channels. As guest expectations rise, having a reliable payment service provider is not just useful—it's crucial.
Personalised stays are here to stay
Hotels have long been about more than just lodging. Be it luxury, relaxation, entertainment, or adventure—hotel guests seek an experience. Increasingly, this experience is expected to be thoughtfully tailored to guests’ unique needs and preferences. Data shows that more personalised stays lead to greater guest satisfaction, and hotels across the globe are on a mission to offer the most bespoke experience possible.
The demand for personalisation extends to all areas of the hotel experience——from room amenities to checkout preferences and, crucially, to payments. As our Global Guest Sentiment Report made clear, today’s hotel guests want to pay in the way that’s most convenient and familiar to them. They want to pay using their first-choice payment method via their preferred device, and, now more than ever, they want to do it in their home currency.
Multicurrency magic: the tools that make it happen
Dynamic Currency Conversion
Nothing breaks the spell of a relaxing holiday quite like the stress of paying in an unfamiliar currency. How much is this actually costing me? Will I be charged any extra fees? Should I pay in cash? Where’s the closest ATM? In an instant, a pleasant moment can turn into a hassle that distracts from the overall experience.
Fortunately, these moments can be avoided by using Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC). DCC allows guests to view and pay the transaction amount in their home currency with the latest daily exchange rate including all mark up fully disclosed, so that the guest can be confident in exactly what they will be charged. Easily integrated into POS systems and online payment gateways, it is a simple way for hoteliers to extend the personalised guest experience through to the payment stage with complete clarity.
Multi-Currency Pricing
Similar to Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC), Multi-Currency Pricing (MCP) removes the burden of currency conversion from your guests. However, unlike DCC, MCP allows guests to choose their preferred currency at the very start of their browsing experience rather than at checkout. For instance, when guests arrive at the hotel’s website, they are prompted to select a currency, enabling them to view room rates with localised pricing. This approach eliminates the visibility of FX charges or exchange rates that could cause guests to reconsider their booking. Additionally, you are still settled in the hotel's home currency, minimising FX risk, avoiding currency trading, and simplifying the management of multiple currency accounts.
Ideal for online booking scenarios, MCP offers even more convenience than DCC by allowing guests to understand the exact cost upfront reducing friction or even the need to think in another currency whilst choosing your accommodation. This transparency results in lower cart abandonment rates, more conversions, and fewer chargebacks.
Multi-Currency Processing
While Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC) and Multi-Currency Pricing are typically available only for Visa and Mastercard, you can still enhance the payment experience for your guests by localizing and personalizing it across other payment schemes. By implementing Multi-Currency Processing, you can allow your guests to browse, book, and pay in their preferred currency using alternative payment methods (APMs) such as AMEX, UnionPay International, WeChat Pay, AliPay+, and many others.
Multi-Currency Processing enables guests to choose their desired currency from the options you've arranged with your Acquirer and service provider. Settlement will be restricted to the settlement currency list of the specific payment scheme. As a result, the acquirer will often establish a separate Merchant Identification Number (MID) for each currency to facilitate settlement.
Managing multiple currencies in a complex payment ecosystem
For large international hotel chains, integrating currency conversion tools can sound easier said than done. In reality, these expansive organisations must consider and manage the payment experience across multiple sectors, sales channels, devices, and potential guest journeys. For example, a single guest may choose to book their room online, make upgrades via a mobile app, and tap their card to buy additional services during their stay. Providing a consistent experience across so many potential touchpoints is a significant hurdle.
Too often, hotel finance and IT teams are overwhelmed by the sheer complexity of coordinating with various third-parties and ensuring seamless integration of multicurrency tools across all platforms. In order to navigate these challenges successfully, more hotels are opting to partner with a single, end-to-end payments provider that can oversee all facets of their payment ecoystem, including managing DCC and/or MCP.
Our role as your global payments partner
At Planet, we know that, in order to find the best payment solutions for our hospitality clients, we must first understand the needs of their guests. Through decades’ of experience working with hotel chains, and through our own independent research, we have a firm grasp of what today’s hotel guests want and the infrastructure required to deliver it.
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