Getting the 'swiped' (S) to indicate a credit card was swiped

An (S) indicating swipe value is obtained when using a magnetic card swiper in conjuncture with the MyCard product to swipe a customers credit card during the check in process. Many merchant providers give a better rate to cards that have swipe value as it ensures the card was physically present at the time of authorization.

However it's important to understand how swipe value works and how to ensure you receive swipe value for your transactions. Only customers who utilize BookingCenter's MyCard product to process their credit card transactions can obtain swipe value designation within the systems. Properties that utilize a third party terminal obtain their swipe value through that terminal and it is not referenced in the MyPMS system.

(S) Swipe Value only occurs during the authorization process. Thus there are two ways to obtain a swipe value for a guests credit card.

A) Swipe the card during the booking creation or check in process on the Booking Data page. You do so by setting the guarantee by to the card type and then swiping the card.

If the booking was created and guaranteed by the credit card through non swipe means, or the guest wanted to utilize an alternate card you must change the guarantee by to the card type and swipe the card PRIOR to check in.

Once you swipe the card and check the booking in the card will gain an authorization for the projected income of the booking and will retain the swipe value for up to the authorized amount.

If the booking has already been checked in, swiping the card from the Booking data screen will not gain an authorization and thus will not gain swipe value. If you need to add a card with swipe value to an active booking utilize method B.

B) Under the Manage Credit Card screen, add a new transaction, swipe the card and enter the desired authorization amount. If the card is able to authorize it will retain swipe value for up to the authorized amount.

It is important to note that any amount over the swiped authorization will not be processed with a payment, as the system must obtain a new authorization for any amount over the original authorization value. The only exception to this rule is for the swipe value on Visa cards, as Visa is the only card to support Incremental Auths.