Best Western Property Enhances PCI Compliance Using Sertifi eAuthorizations
Best Western Plus takes their guest experience up a notch.
Best Western Hotels & Resorts is an award-winning brand that operates hotels in over 100 countries. While each brand has its own unique personality and flavor, all Best Western hotels are committed to providing exceptional customer service and the most up-to-date conveniences. The Best Western brand is always looking to continually shape the guest experience and streamline behind-the-scenes processes.
The team at Best Western Plus The Inn at St. Albert aimed to take the guest experience to the next level, and one area that they needed to examine was their current payment process. They wanted to be more proactive in protecting guests’ credit card information. It was important to ensure customers that their team was taking preventative measures to avoid potential data breaches. That’s where Sertifi eAuthorizations came into the picture. We chatted with Tyson Ghostkeeper, Regional Director of Operations at Mouallem Management Group, about how this Best Western hotel reduces PCI scope and offers a secure way to collect payment authorizations from guests since implementing Sertifi eAuthorizations.
Why did you select eAuthorizations?
It’s a secure option to validate credit card numbers against the card holder name, address, etc. via Merchant Link. This is a huge prevention for fraudulent credit card use and a great step in the protection of our guests’ credit card information.
Prior to using Sertifi, how was your hotel handling credit card authorization forms?
In the past, our staff had to email or fax a form, which could not be filled out digitally. We moved to an online portal, but this was simply a fillable form, and we had no way of validating the credit card number before charging the card. It made the process faster, but it put us more at risk for fraudulent transactions.
On the other side, guests had to print and handwrite the form, find a fax machine, and send it back to the hotel. If the fax line was busy, or the guest didn’t have access to a scanner or fax machine, the process wasn’t timely and effective (especially late at night). It caused frustration for both employees and guests.
Has implementing Sertifi eAuthorizations shortened the time it takes to collect and verify credit cards?
Guests are commending us for the security and function of the new system, including the ease of use and how quickly they can submit the form and get their guests, coworkers, and family’s payments taken care of right away (even as fast as a few minutes!).
How does Sertifi eAuthorizations make your employees more efficient?
With a managed portal, our Front Desk Agents can keep their direct communication with our guests/bookers to get the entire payment and reservation process complete in a personalized manner. On top of that, as a team, there is transparent communication and follow up as each person is notified of the credit card form completions from one shift to the next.
How does Sertifi eAuthorizations provide your customers a better guest experience?
It allows for fast, personalized credit card authorization forms to be sent directly to the guest’s email with the ability to electronically sign and authorize payments to their credit cards on any device, anywhere!
Why do you think hotels need to make PCI compliance and security a priority?
In today’s advanced world of technology and public knowledge of the latest cyber hacks and threats for any business and hotels, PCI compliancy and security are top priorities to protect our guests and their personal information. We want all guests to feel safe in all aspects during their stay with us and this includes their reservation and payment processes.
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