Understanding payouts

This page provides information on the payout methods available to partners and explains various payout-related concepts you encounter while using the Payments by Booking Onboarding API.

We strongly recommend that you also go through the FAQs about Payments by Booking as they provide additional important information not covered in this documentation.

There are three payout methods supported by Payments by Booking: bank transfers (BT), virtual credit cards (VCCs), and Stripe.

• If you choose VCC as the payout method, you receive a temporary, digital card (issued per booking) that contains the exact amount that the guest paid for the reservation. This card can be charged after it's activated just like any other credit card using a POS terminal that supports 'card not present' transactions, or through a payment service provider.

• If you choose BT as the payout method, Booking.com pays you directly into your bank account, typically in your local currency. Payouts can be monthly, weekly, or daily (limited to select countries).

• Stripe is only available for Home properties in the US and Canada. Stripe is a payment service provider that works with Booking.com to facilitate bank transfer to partners. Funds are released per reservation on the reservation check-in day. The actual payout is performed by Stripe.

For information on the features of each payout method, process and partner requirements, see:

• Getting paid by bank transfers

• Payments for property management companies in the US and Canada: FAQs

• Everything you need to know about virtual credit cards

After the onboarding, if the property has enrolled to Payments by Booking.com with bank transfers as the payout method, they'll need to provide their bank account details to receive payouts for their reservations and to comply with regulatory requirements.

• If your partner manages one property, they can provide their bank account details through the extranet by going to Finance -> Finance settings.

• If your partner manages multiple properties, they can provide their bank account details through the Group extranet by going to Finance -> Bank details.

For more information about how to update your bank details, see this page.

Adding bank account details through the Payments by Booking Onboarding API will be supported in a future release.

To comply with an evolving regulatory landscape, Booking.com is required to collect and verify information from each partner willing to use Stripe. For this, partners must complete the Know Your Partner (KYP) form that will be sent as part of this API.

For more information on how to complete the KYP form, see this page.

For information on the fees, see How much Payments by Booking.com costs.

A payout can be gross or net:

• A gross payout is when the total reservation amount is paid out. In case of gross, partners pay their invoices either through Booking.com Extranet or by means of Direct Debit (DD) that debits their bank account automatically with the invoice amount.

• A net payout is an amount that excludes Booking.com commission and payment fees. An official commission invoice is generated and the calculated amount is deducted per partner.

A bank transfer payout can be either net or gross. VCC and Stripe payouts are almost always gross.

The choice of frequency is only available for bank transfers. They can be monthly, weekly, or daily (limited to select countries). See "Getting paid by bank transfers" -> "When will I get paid by bank transfer" in the FAQs.

VCC payouts are per reservation, meaning that once the money has been added to the VCC, the partner can charge it. See "Getting paid by virtual credit card (VCC)" -> "When can a VCC be charged" in the FAQs.

Payouts handled by Stripe typically occur daily, and the payment is generally released on the day of guest check-in. The gross pay is sent to a central bank account.

When you receive a response from calling the Eligibility API, it contains a field named payin_collection_strategy. This is a special, temporary field that helps determine how different guest payment-related policies ("free cancellation", "non-refundable", "Pay later", etc) affect guest payment collection. This information is crucial as it directly impacts the handling of partner payouts by Booking.com.

• If the field is set to ALL in the response, you don't need to do anything when requesting to onboard the property to Payments by Booking with the Payments Configuration API. Just set payin_collection_strategy to ALL in the request.

• If the field is set to PARTIAL, set payin_collection_strategy to PARTIAL in the onboarding request, and integrate the following information into the application you provide to property owners:

A VCC activation policy code is a numeric identifier used within Booking.com to define exactly when a VCC associated with a reservation gets activated and is enabled for charging.