Setting up card payments

Card payments let guests pay a deposit or the whole stay by card when they book, with the money paid into your bank. PootlrHost uses Stripe for this, so the first step is setting up a Stripe account from your dashboard.

Before you start

Only the campsite’s owner can see Payments & billing, so this is a job for you rather than your team. It takes about 10 minutes and nothing is charged to set up. Have these ready:

• Photo ID: a passport or UK driving licence (photo ID for each partner or director, if that’s how you’re set up)
• The sort code and account number you want paid into
• Your home address and date of birth, exactly as they appear on your ID
• Your mobile phone, as Stripe texts you a code

Set up Stripe

1. Go to Payments & billing › Guest payments, or open Payments.
2. Under Who runs the campsite?, choose Just me, or me and my partner, A farming partnership or A limited company. This tells Stripe which questions to ask.
3. Tap Start setting up. Stripe’s secure form opens, with help for each step alongside it.
4. Work through the form and submit it. If you need to stop, tap Save and finish later, then Carry on setting up when you come back.

If the form won’t load, tap Try again, or Fill it in on Stripe’s site to do the same thing on Stripe’s own pages.

After you submit

Stripe checks your details. Most sites are ready in a few minutes; some take up to 2 working days. Tap Check again to see if it’s done. If Stripe needs something else, the page says Stripe needs one more thing and tells you what. Tap Sort it out with Stripe to add it.

Choose when guests pay

Connecting Stripe doesn’t switch card payments on by itself: guests keep paying on arrival until you change it. Under How guests pay › When do guests pay?, pick one. Changes save straight away.

• Pay when they arrive: guests book online and pay you on site.
• Pay by card when they book: guests pay a deposit or in full by card.
• Let guests choose: card when they book, or pay on arrival.

The two card options stay greyed out with Connect Stripe first until Stripe has finished checking you. To take a deposit rather than the full amount, see Deposits and balances.

Check guests before confirming

Once guests can pay by card, you can choose to speak to them before they’re booked in. Under How guests pay › Check guests before confirming, pick Off, New guests only or Everyone.

With it on, a card booking comes in as a request. The guest’s deposit or full payment is held on their card, not taken. Confirm takes it, and Decline releases it, so nothing is charged and there’s nothing to refund. You’re reminded once a day, and a request you haven’t answered in 5 days is declined for you. PootlrHost’s £1 is only taken when you confirm. See Booking requests for the details.

Without card payments

Your website still takes bookings. A guest who chooses Pay on arrival sends you a request rather than a confirmed booking. It shows on Today under Needs you for you to tap Confirm, and the guest is told you’ll confirm by email. Bookings paid by card are confirmed straight away, unless you check guests before confirming.

Good to know

• Stripe’s card fee is 1.5% + 20p on standard UK cards (2.8% + 20p on premium UK cards, more on overseas cards). It comes off the payment before it reaches your bank. UK law doesn’t allow card surcharges, so guests never pay it. Stripe keeps its fee if you refund.
• On Pay As You Go, PootlrHost’s £1 also comes out of each card booking’s payment. See Your PootlrHost plan.
• To change your bank account later, see Payouts.