Direct booking payments without the OTA tax

The double toll of online bookings

The modern hotel booking carries two costs that erode margin even at strong occupancy. First, OTAs (Booking, Expedia, Airbnb) take 15–25% of every reservation they intermediate. Second, card networks take another 1.5–3% every time the guest pays by card - including on bookings that come directly to your website. Stacked together, a very high share of your web revenue lands in your account as a much smaller share of what the guest actually paid.

The most profitable move for any chain or independent hotel is to push direct bookings - and, on top of that, remove the card toll. That's where UrbanPay fits.

A2A via Open Banking on your own site

UrbanPay plugs into your booking engine or web checkout. When the guest reaches payment, instead of a card gateway they see the option to pay directly from their bank via Open Banking. They authenticate once in their banking app (satisfying SCA with no extra friction), confirm the amount, and funds move from their account to yours in seconds via SEPA Instant.

A €380 reservation that costs €5.70–€11.40 in card fees costs under €1 via A2A. Applied to €5M of annual direct bookings, the savings sit in the €60k–€130k range per year.

No chargebacks, no holds

A2A payments are irrevocable. The guest can't initiate a chargeback weeks later: the collection is final from second zero. That eliminates most of the operational risk on non-refundable rates and simplifies reconciliation - what you see in the dashboard is what is in your bank account.

And because settlement is instant, you have the cash before the guest even checks in - useful for non-refundable deposits, prepayments and last-minute bookings.

KYC and signing for corporate and long-stay

For corporate accounts, MICE and long stays, UrbanPay layers KYC/KYB and digital contract signing into the same flow as payment. One session: the client signs the agreement, completes verification and authorizes payment. Subsequent reservations skip the KYC loop.

For hotels that handle corporate bookings, group reservations from tour operators, or long-stay arrangements with corporate clients, KYB verification validates the entity and its beneficial owners before processing high-value payments. This is particularly relevant for luxury properties and extended-stay hotels where transaction values justify enhanced verification. See the KYB compliance guide for full detail.

Beyond payment and verification, every guest generates a mandatory traveller report in SES Hospedajes within 24 hours; the data fields, deadlines and fines are set out in our guide to SES Hospedajes in Spain.

Escrow for security deposits - coming soon

Damage deposits, advance payments for long stays and corporate framework agreements should not sit in your operating account. Our upcoming escrow product will hold them in a segregated, regulated account until release conditions are met - with full audit trail per reservation.