What is a hotel credit card authorization form?

Let’s start at the beginning: what is a credit card authorization form? If a guest books a room for herself on your website, she can enter her own credit card number on your checkout screen, and that card number will be encrypted and safely passed to your payment processing system. But what about a reservation that needs to be split between two credit cards or a reservation booked on behalf of someone else? Anytime your hotel needs to collect credit card information manually, you need to send a credit card authorization form because industry standards for security prohibit staff from collecting credit card information in a non-secure way, like over the phone or via email. A credit card authorization form is a secure way to gather credit card information to minimize the risk of fraud or a security breach and to protect guests’ personal data. In the past, CCA forms were sent via email or fax, but in recent years digital CCA forms have become more popular.

What information is necessary on a CCA form?

The CCA form must collect all the information your Reservations or Accounting staff need to charge for the reservation correctly. This information includes details about the credit card holder, the card itself, and the types of charges intended to be put on the card. An effective CCA form should include:

• Card holder details: Because, in many cases, the person submitting the CCA is not the same person as the reservation holder, it’s important to collect the card holder’s full name as well as the guest’s name on the CCA form. For example, the person submitting the CCA form and paying for the reservation could be a meeting planner, while the person actually staying in the room could be a speaker presenting at the conference.

• Charge categories: Sometimes reservation payments are split between multiple cards, so you’ll want to include a section on your CCA form where guests (or people paying for reservations) can specify which types of charges should be put on their credit card. Categories can include room rate and tax, minibar, room service, spa services, parking, and more. For instance, a guest’s company might pay for the room rate, tax, and parking, but not for minibar or room service charges.

• Credit card details: Of course, your CCA form must include a section to input credit card details, including the card holder’s name, card type (Visa, Mastercard, etc.), credit card number, CVV, expiration date, and billing address.

• Card holder’s signature: At the bottom of your CCA form, be sure to include a signature box where the card holder can authorize your hotel to charge their card.

Why not use PDF or paper CCA forms?

If your hotel has been sending credit card authorization forms in PDF format via email, or maybe if you’ve been sending them via fax, why change? There are a few serious risks to using PDF or paper CCA forms, and the entire CCA process is less than efficient when you use these types of forms. Paper and PDF forms present an opportunity for potential identity thieves to steal credit card numbers because the card number is visible without any sort of encryption. Even if you store completed CCA forms in a secure file cabinet or in a folder on a computer, there’s still a risk that personal data about your guests could get into the wrong hands.

In addition, these manual-entry forms offer no credit card authorization or verification feature, so someone could theoretically write a card number “1111 1111 1111 1111” on a form, and submit it, creating extra work for your team. But even if a guest or billing contact enters the right credit card information the first time, the process is still not ideal for your staff, because they need to manually transfer the card number and billing details into your PMS or payment processing system, which takes time and has the possibility for manual errors. Nor is it a great experience for your guests, who don’t want to spend their time completing paperwork and figuring out how to send the completed form back to you.

How can digital CCA forms benefit your hotel?

If sending PDF or paper CCA forms is not ideal, then what’s the solution? In the last few years, digital CCA forms have gained traction as a compelling alternative to the old–school versions. With a fully digital process, your reservations agents can send a unique link to the billing contact that directs them to a mobile-friendly page where they can securely enter the payment details. The credit card information is encrypted and passed to your payment processing system in a fully PCI-compliant way, which significantly decreases the risk of a security breach. Digital CCA systems can even show which CCA forms have been sent but not completed, helping to save your team’s time chasing payments. And some vendors offer an integrated fraud detection service that proactively works to reduce invalid credit cards and chargebacks.

Hotels should leverage technology to implement digital authorizations

Hotels should leverage software to execute contactless check-ins for guests with digital credit card authorization forms instead of paper and manual processes because it provides a more efficient and secure way of handling guest information and payment authorization.

A credit card authorization form is a document that allows a hotel to charge a guest's credit card for incidentals and any outstanding charges incurred during their stay. It typically includes the guest's name, arrival and departure dates, confirmation number, hotel reservation details, type of credit card (Visa, Mastercard, Amex), credit card number, expiration date, security code, billing address, and phone number.

Traditionally, hotels would require guests to fill out a paper credit card authorization form and provide a cardholder signature upon check-in. However, this process is time-consuming and increases the risk of errors and fraud.

By leveraging software, hotels can streamline the check-in process and reduce the need for manual handling of credit card information. Guests can complete the form digitally, including checkboxes for incidental charges like room service and mini-bar, and submit it securely online. The completed form can then be stored and accessed electronically by the front desk.

Digital credit card authorization forms also provide an added layer of security by eliminating the need for paper documents that could be lost or stolen. They allow for one-time payment authorization, reducing the risk of unauthorized charges to a guest's credit card account.

Leveraging software to execute contactless check-ins with digital credit card authorization forms provides a more efficient and secure way for hotels to handle guest information and payment authorization, improving the overall guest experience.