Tokenisation.
The card details from OTA bookings are tokenised before they hit our network.
You can think of a token as being like a cloakroom ticket that you can exchange back for your coat when you need it. The token represents the card, but unlike the 16 digits, expiry and CV2 of a real card, it can't be used by a fraudster or rogue staff member. LIke the cloakroom ticket, we can electronically pass the token to Caterpay and swap it for the actual card details, enabling it to be processed by the banking system.
(The cost for tokenising these cards is included in your monthly Caterpay fee.)
Charging the token.
You can charge the token directly from within the finance tab of Caterbook.
So where we have an existing token, we can click Add new payment to then charge against it.
You'd select a Purpose (deposit or balance) then select the Caterpay - Charge token payment Type, and then click Save. (Note, that you could also Verify the token - a zero value check that the card details are legitimate.)
We then have a Select card screen (in case the card details had been updated by the Guest on the OTA) and then a Payment summary screen confirming what is about to happen.
Clicking the Finish payment button will then attempt to charge the tokenised card and return a response, passing the paid amount back to the finance tab and updating the booking balance.
Note - virtual cards.
If you are working with booking.com and Expedia and are using their Virtual cards, please remember that these cards can usually only be charged on the day of arrival or departure, and not weeks in advance. The date which a virtual card can be charged is usually shown in the booking notes.