Pancho Pérez (PaynoPain): “Protecting guest’s data and complying with PCI DSS regulations is fundamental if we are to guarantee a positive user experience.”

With extensive experience in the payment methods industry and extensive Technology and Creativity training, Pancho provides experience and knowledge, to offer the best technological solutions which are adapted to guests’ needs. 

What is PaynoPain?

PaynoPain is a Spanish fintech that was founded in 2011 to simplify online selling for companies. We offer companies tailored, innovative solution, working with various sectors including hotels, microcredit, collaborative economy projects, e-Commerce, teleoperators and banking.

Over the last 11 years, we have provided our services to more than 1500 customers worldwide and we currently offer solutions in Spain, Europe, much of Central and South America, and some projects in Africa.

What features do you offer for tourist accommodation?

We have our payment gateway, Paylands, which offers properties the ability to manage booking payments on the engine, channel or PMS. Our payment gateway centralises all the card payments made by the hotel in a single panel. It can identify the sales channel, save a card, issue refunds,  charge a saved card, among other very useful features used for booking payment managmenent. We also have cases where the hotel may not use the gateway which is integrated with its software vendors, and instead directly uses the Paylands backend.

We currently have more than 20 integrated hotel partners, including Hotelinking, Witbooking, Mirai, Ulyses Cloud, Masteryield, Antfor and Madisa, among others.

To what extent can PaynoPain help a hotel? And what are the benefits for the guest?

As we mentioned, at PaynoPain we have gained a lot of experience in the hotel industry, so much so that we speak their language and understand their payment processes and the different types of technology providers.

One of the first benefits the hotel gains from implementing our technology is security. Protecting guests’ card data and complying with current PCI DSS regulations is critical to ensuring the user experience.

Once the data is protected, we help the hotel to charge guests following the different operations and payment processes to guarantee that the hotel has funds, such as obtaining the reinforced authentication or SCA in order to charge no shows or consumption payments directly to the guest’s card.

This makes the payment experience completely secure, offering guests peace of mind. We also offer them maximum comfort, adapting to each guest’s needs and preferences, thanks to the variety of alternative payment methods that we have integrated into our platform.

Do you think hotel owners want alternative payment methods?

Incorporating alternative payment methods is an upward trend and we have noticed that more and more establishments are gradually incorporating them. Implementing these methods requires in-depth knowledge of the target audiences, their customs and preferences. Other factors to take into account are the location of the property and the place of origin of the guests, as this can vary greatly. At PaynoPain, we work with our partners, booking engines and PMS to offer the best payment options that improve the customer experience and billing

We have recently integrated the Cofidis-funded payment option, which allows properties to offer this alternative simply and quickly, without complicated integrations. This alternative represents an increase in turnover for hotels, as guests have the option to pay in manageable instalments and can therefore afford a higher amount.

To adapt to new market trends, we have also incorporated cryptocurrency payment options. Our solution allows guests to pay in cryptocurrencies and hotels can receive it in euros or other currencies. Although it is not a commonly-used payment method right now, more and more businesses are incorporating it. We have noticed particular interest from 5* or higher hotels, and the wellness and luxury sectors.

Sometimes you get the idea that fintech solutions are for large companies. Are your solutions also suitable for self-catering accommodation and small chains?

Although the word fintech has only recently become fashionable, this sector  has been around for many years. The oldest and most well-known fintech is Visa. Nowadays, with the democratisation of technology, changes have emerged that have allowed new actors like us to offer services that previously required significant expense, as well as tailor-made developments.

At PaynoPain we develop payment technology which is accessible to all types of businesses or users. We adapt to offer different options so that everyone can use our services, because we know that a large company does not have the same needs as a small one.

If the hotel or establishment uses software such as Motor, Chanel or PMS, it can be easily integrated with our systems or you can choose any of our currently integrated partners. On the other hand, if the hotel does not use management software, it can use the main functions of the payment gateway from our backend, without any integration.

For example, we can generate a payment link to send via SMS or email, with an amount to pay, a booking number and currency. All this is personalised and adapted to the style of the establishment.

What does a property have to do adapt to PSD2 regulations? How does it impact guests’ payment experiences?

The main impact that PSD2 has had has been on the direct channel with the introduction of Enhanced Customer Authentication (SCA). It is necessary to verify the user’s identity using at least 2 of the following 3 elements: one of their physical devices such a personal mobile phone, something they know such as a pin code or a password, and something inherent to them, such as a fingerprint or facial recognition. This reinforces consumer security, but adds several more steps when it comes to executing payment for a booking made using a credit card.

We work with various partners to develop automation to make this payment process as simple and effective as possible for both businesses and end consumers. We transfer the card data used in the token including enhanced authentication and compliance with the PCI-DSS.

What do hotel owners have to do to promote digitisation, and more specifically, to improve their payment solutions?

We could summarise this in 3 key steps:

1. Analyse the payment processes they wish to run and the ones they wish to automate.
2. Get to know your guest so you can offer them the payment method that suits them best suits, thus gaining their loyalty.
3. Check whether your software vendor’s features can manage payments.

By answering these three questions, the hotel owner can know where and how to implement the payment gateway.

Another important aspect is financial management. The operations, administration and financial departments must analyse how they want to conciliate the payment data, who is authorised to access it and what actions can be carried out by the different departments in the hotel such as Reception, Bookings, Events, etc. Note that the gateway can accept extra data. We usually use the booking code, but they can enter any data that the hotel needs to conciliate.

The world of payments must therefore be seen as the central pillar of correct booking processing, avoiding friction, controlling costs and boosting revenue.

What payment method trends do you think we’ll see in the near future?

In recent years, we have seen a clear trend towards digitisation of all users. This is backed up by studies carried out by the Bank of Spain. According to the last survey in 2020, 54.1% opted for the debit card as their preferred means of payment, data that has increased over the months, leaving cash in second place. Payment made using mobile phones or devices such as smartwatches will increase and the payments made with physical cards will decrease, even disappear.

Cryptocurrencies still have a long way to go as a trend, especially if they are used for risky investments or capital shelter. However, more and more businesses are adapting to accept this type of payment. It is likely to become an effective payment method for cross-border transactions in the future.

Another trend that is gaining ground is BNPL (Buy Now Pay Later), a system that is here to stay. For end users, this represents greater flexibility and convenience, as it is a financing system that does not require much red tape, and allows guests to make bookings for higher amounts.