Security deposits are key to protecting your business against damages and last-minute cancellations. Automate security deposits using Payment Automations to eliminate the need to manually add them to every reservation.
The automated security deposit works with any booking channel, as long as a payment method is available.
Before you begin
Set up Payment Automations.
Verify that your payment processor supports security deposit holds.
Understand that security deposits are automatically held and released. If damages occur, you must manually charge the deposit before the deposit is released.
Important:
Security deposits can be held for up to five days due to payment processor limitations.
Security deposits in payment automations are separate from security deposit fields in your listing settings and don't sync with channels.
Set automated security deposit
Step by step:
- Sign in to your Guesty account.
- In the left-side menu, click Payment Automations.
- Click an existing automation or create a new one.
- Click Add payment.
- Under "Payment type", select Security deposit.
- Set the deposit amount (fixed amount or percentage).
- Configure the timing. We recommend setting it to 5 days before checkout to ensure the hold period covers the entire stay.
- Click Save.
Once configured, security deposits are automatically scheduled for all applicable reservations. To charge for damages, go to the specific reservation and manually charge the deposit before the deposit is released.
Best practices
Configure deposit holds to begin five days before check-out to ensure the hold remains active throughout the stay.
Use Payment Automation rules per listing or channel to align with channel policies.
If the channel doesn't support deposit display, add a message workflows to notify guests of the deposit requirements.