Technical Integration vs. Bringing Payments into the Hotel Operating System
In the first generation payment automation models, technical integration acts as a bridge between business systems and payment processing accounts. However, this creates a disjointed operational environment. Hotel operating systems and the payment accounts are configured and maintained separately, by different vendors, which frequently leads to misconfiguration, disruptions in payment processing and cumbersome troubleshooting processes. Hoteliers are forced into a middleman role between the business system and payment solution support, navigating technical complexities due to the lack of mutual accessibility between the business and payment systems.
In today’s world, where card payments overwhelmingly dominate, ensuring their seamless operation is indispensable. Such payments must be positioned at the very heart of the entire business solution for optimum functionality and success. Clock’s Payment Enablement Service, provided in collaboration with Adyen, one of the world's most innovative payment providers, simplifies this by embedding payments into the hotel operating system. Hoteliers benefit from a single point of contact, responsible for all of the functionality, technical aspects and operations, enhancing communication and accountability. The model introduces an optimal balance of responsibilities - while Adyen, as a regulated financial institution, manages the funds and payouts directly with the hotelier, Clock focuses on optimising the integration and support of payment processes within business operations, without access to the funds. Additionally, Clock gets much deeper access to the payment infrastructure, allowing us to build more and more advanced payment-related solutions.