To protect your properties in case of damage, iGMS offers the option to capture a Security Deposit on your Vrbo, Booking.com and Direct Booking reservations. This deposit will be taken at a date set by you, and returned to the guest after a set period of time to give you all the time you need to inspect the property. If the property has suffered any damage, you can quickly claim the security deposit and use that money for repairs or replacements.
What security deposit options can you use?
iGMS offers two different kinds of security deposit strategies:
A Security Deposit Charge will charge your guest a fixed amount at the time of booking, along with the price of the reservation itself. A set period of days after check-out, that money will be returned to the guest through a credit.
A Security Deposit Hold will block a fixed amount of money in your guest's credit card or chosen payment method. A set period of days after check-out, the hold will be lifted and the guest will be able to use that money again.
How can you choose which security deposit option to use?
Security deposits can only be added for Vrbo, Booking.com and Direct Booking reservations.
Vrbo:
For Vrbo, you can choose the security deposit option you prefer in the Vrbo Listing Editor. To reach the editor, please go to Accounts and Listings, click on a listing, and then click the Vrbo icon on the right, under Channels:
This will take you to the Vrbo Listing Editor, where you can choose the kind of deposit you want and the amount you want to charge or hold in the Payment Terms section:
Whichever option you choose, the deposit will be automatically returned to the guest 14 days after check-out unless you claim it.
Booking.com:
To change the security deposit of your Booking.com listings, first enter the Hotel Editor by going to Accounts and Listings, clicking the gear icon next to the listing you want to edit:
And then the Edit button. This will take you to the Booking.com hotel editor for that property, where you'll be able to set up the security deposit:
Please note that Booking.com currently only allows the Security Deposit Charge strategy, not the Hold.
Direct Bookings:
For Direct Booking listings, you have two options: you can set the security deposit in the Global Direct Booking settings, or you can change it individually for each listing.
To change the Global Direct Booking settings, please go to Direct Booking in the main iGMS menu, click on the Payments tab, then decide which deposit strategy you wish to use, along with the amount of the deposit and the collection date:
To change it individually per listing, please enter the Direct Booking Listing Editor by following the same steps as the Vrbo Listing Editor, but clicking this icon instead:
Once in the Direct Booking listing editor, scroll down to the Payment section, select the Property Specific Settings option:
And then select which deposit strategy you wish to use, along with its details:
This will allow you to give each of your listings its own security deposit settings if you need it.
Important:
Airbnb does not currently offer security deposits. If you need to insure an Airbnb listing, please use AirCover.
Credit card deposit Holds only last for seven days. So when a booking is longer than seven days, our payment processor partner, Stripe, automatically removes the existing hold after seven days and creates a new one. While the process is fully automatic and seamless, this can lead to some guests seeing two holds in their cards: the one that's yet to be deleted and the one that's just been created. But the former will always be automatically removed.
If you have any questions about the Security Deposit, please contact our Customer Experience team via Live Chat or by email at [email protected]