Guest payments
How guests pay you for a direct booking, and what each option costs.
There are two ways to get paid, and you can use either or both. You can take the money yourself by bank transfer or cash, which needs no setup at all. Or you can let guests pay by card, which runs on Stripe Connect. Card payments are the only option that needs a payout account.
| How the guest pays | What you need | Where it happens |
|---|---|---|
| Bank transfer or cash | Nothing to set up | You send your details, then record the payment on the booking |
| Card, after you confirm | A verified payout account | A secure payment link you send the guest |
| Card, at the time of booking | A verified payout account | Inline in the booking form (Pay in widget) |
What guest payments cost
Pro includes no commission and no RentalBeam booking or application fee - you keep 100% of your booking revenue. When a guest pays by card, the standard Stripe card-processing fee applies to that charge. Inquiry-only requests, pay-later bookings, and off-platform payments such as a bank transfer have no per-transaction cost at all.
Get paid without connecting Stripe
Use this when you take bank transfers or cash and just want the booking side handled.
- 1In Booking settings - Setup, choose Request now, bill later.
- 2In Booking settings - Payments, add a payment step and set it to Bank transfer or Cash.
- 3Confirm a booking request, then send the guest their payment details.
- 4When the money arrives, open the booking and record the payment so your totals stay accurate.
Set up card payments
Use this when you want guests to pay online. Setup runs through Stripe Connect, which is entirely separate from your own RentalBeam plan billing - that runs on Paddle, and the two are never connected.
- 1Add a payout account in the dashboard Payments tab.
- 2Finish Stripe verification for that account.
- 3Assign the payout account to a rental in that rental Booking settings - Payments.
- 4Choose how guests pay - a payment link you send after confirming a request, or Pay in widget at the time of booking.
- 5Send yourself one real payment and confirm it arrives before advertising checkout on your site.
Currency
A rental currency must match the default currency of the payout account assigned to it before guests can pay by card. This does not apply if you only take bank transfers or cash.
Payment schedules
Instead of a single charge, you can split what a guest owes into payment steps - for example, a deposit due at booking and a balance due later. Each step is set to card, bank transfer, or cash, so you can mix them: take a card deposit up front and settle the balance by bank transfer, or keep every step offline.
Where guests pay
Card payments happen in one of two places: inline in the booking form when Pay in widget is on, or later through a secure payment link that opens a hosted payment page. That hosted page is also where a guest returns to pay a later step in a payment schedule. Bank transfer and cash steps are settled directly with you, and you record them on the booking.
Two-factor authentication required
Managing payout accounts requires two-factor authentication or a passkey on your RentalBeam account. This applies to card payments only.