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BitPay Partners With Hotel Software Provider For New Booking Tool

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Billed as “the world’s first and only bitcoin-compatible booking engine,” GuestLeader is a new hotel booking tool that has been launched by bitcoin merchant processor BitPay and REVPAR GURU, a hotel revenue management software provider.GuestLeader is being advertised as a way for hotels to quickly integrate bitcoin payments and take advantage of the benefits enjoyed by bitcoin-accepting merchants.Customers can use GuestLeader to make a reservation and then pay using bitcoin at checkout, while hotels that want to accept bitcoin as a form of payment can do so without the technical know-how required by other solutions.REVPAR said in its 6th May announcement:“Hotels of any size will have the ability to accept payment in bitcoins (and by doing so, attract a new and emerging customer) without having a great deal of technical knowledge.”How it GuestLeader worksGuestLeader functions like most traditional hotel booking tools – The customer fills out guest information and selects the room they would like to reserve.At checkout, the customer can opt to pay using bitcoin instead of a credit card. They scan the QR code that appears on the screen which authorizes the transaction.BitPay acts as the payment processor, converting bitcoins into fiat and depositing the funds into the hotel’s bank account. In this way, a hotel that uses GuestLeader is only indirectly accepting bitcoin. GuestLeader also features smartphone and tablet functionality, and can also be deployed across social media platforms such as Facebook.More hotels sign on to bitcoin acceptanceAs bitcoin becomes increasingly prominent as a payment system, a rising number of hotels have begun accepting digital currency.In February, California-based travel booking agency CheapAir announced that it would accept bitcoin payments. The service offers bitcoin reservations for more than 200,000 hotel locations worldwide.For more on CheapAir’s latest decision to expand its bitcoin travel offerings, read our full report here.Hotel room service image via ShutterstockBitPaylifestyleTravel
Original author: Stan Higgins