VCCs are temporary, digital Mastercards that Booking.com uses to pay you for bookings that your guests pay for on Booking.com. They function like regular credit cards and give you guaranteed payouts from Booking.com. They also save you time because you don't need to pre-authorize or validate them.
- For every relevant booking you receive, Booking.com sends you a new VCC included in the guest's reservation.
- Each VCC has a unique card number, expiration date, and card verification code (CVC), and these details will never be reused.
- Each VCC comes with a balance that can be charged.
- Each VCC also has an activation date when you can start charging the card.
- To avoid any errors while processing the payment, it is important to charge the VCC within the period when the card is active and not more than the balance available.
With Payments Clarity feature, you can see the VCC balance, activation and expiration date in the Special Requests field on Cloudbeds PMS. Follow the steps below.
It is important to charge the VCC based on this information to avoid any errors while processing the payment.
- Current Balance: The available balance you can charge the VCC.
- Activation Date: The first day you can charge the VCC. The activation date will vary from OTA to OTA. For Booking.com, you can charge the VCC on the Day of Arrival.
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Expiration Date: The last day you can charge the VCC. It expires 365 days after the check-out date.
- On Cloudbeds PMS, credit card data will be removed 14 days after check-out for security purposes. If you need to access the VCC beyond this period, you can view the details on the Booking.com Extranet. More information from Booking.com: What to know about virtual credit cards (VCCs)
- Access the guest's reservation.
- Click Show More.
- You will see one of the messages below:
- You have received a virtual credit card for this reservation. You may charge it as of [activation date]. The virtual card expires on [expiration date]. You can charge the card [amount] until this expiration date.
- You have received a virtual credit card for this reservation. The virtual card has no funds. This is due to the reservation being a Risk-free Reservation where the guest has selected to 'Pay Later'.
More information about Risk-free Reservation on Booking.com: What is the Risk-Free Reservations programme and how does it work?
Booking.com will help refund the guest on your behalf.
If you’ve already received money for the reservation, all you need to do is return that same amount back to the same virtual credit card.
Virtual credit cards can be refunded even if they have expired. If the expiry date is in the past, just enter the current month as the expiration date instead. Booking.com will return the money to your guest.
- How to Process Refund Through Payment Gateway
- How to Add / Post Refund to Reservation as a Record (Without Using Payment Gateway Processing)
- If you find difficulties while refunding the virtual credit card, we recommend that you contact your bank or financial institution. For more details, contact your Booking.com Account Manager.
- More information on Booking.com help center: How and when do I refund a virtual credit card (VCC)?
With Channel Collect you can get the payment via virtual credit cards (VCCs) or bank transfer from Booking.com depending on the agreement you have with the channel.
If the payment method is VCC, the card will be included in the reservation and you can process it.
Otherwise, you should receive the payout via bank transfer from Booking.com. Contact your Booking.com Account Manager for more information.
Booking.com Virtual Credit Cards (VCCs) do not reliably support multiple authorization cycles.
If you attempt a workflow that involves:
- Authorizing a partial amount.
- Then voiding that partial authorization.
The full, original balance on the VCC may not become available again. This can result in a subsequent full authorization attempt failing, even though the total reservation amount should be covered by the VCC.
Why does a partial amount capture on a Booking.com VCC fail?
If you experience an error during capture (e.g., an attempted final payment failure on a remaining balance), the issue is likely related to the authorization cycle limitation described above.
Example Scenario:
- Total VCC Value: THB 12,860.50
- Amount Previously Collected: THB 11,574
- Remaining to Collect: THB 1,286
- Outcome: Attempting to process the final remaining THB 1,286 fails because a previous partial authorization and void sequence may have made the remaining balance unusable.
How can I successfully process the full payment amount on a Booking.com VCC?
To avoid issues with unusable remaining balances, you must adjust your authorization strategy:
- Option 1 (Recommended): Authorize the full amount of the VCC balance in a single attempt at the time you intend to capture the payment.
- Option 2 (Alternative): Only authorize the exact amount you intend to capture immediately, avoiding the need for a void.
In summary, avoid partial authorization followed by a void.
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