Register a deposit held in another system

Introduction

Sometimes the customer's deposit is not held by RentVisie at all. A hotel, for example, has already blocked the amount on the guest's card in its own system. With Register authorization (manual) on the screen headed Booking payments, you write that hold onto the booking. From then on RentVisie treats it like a card hold: until the end of its Valid until day it counts as held on the rental agreement and in the booking's Outstanding block. When the vehicle comes back, you record what was charged (Capture), or that the hold was freed (Release).

On Booking payments, the payment list sits at the top left. The holds list is below it, with Authorize (credit card) and Register authorization (manual) above it. The grey Price breakdown panel with the Outstanding block is on the right.

You would be here because:

• a hotel guest rents a car and the hotel has already blocked the deposit on their card
• the car came back clean, the hotel freed the deposit, and the booking should say so
• the car came back with a scratch, the hotel charged part of the deposit, and that money has to show on the booking
• you registered a hold on the wrong booking and want it gone

Terms used on this screen

Skim this once; you will come back to rows as they come up:

Every way to secure a deposit

Use this page only when the hold already exists somewhere else. RentVisie does not contact that system: it only records what you tell it.

How to use

Configuration

There is nothing to switch on. Register authorization (manual) shows on every booking, also when your company has no Mollie connection.

Capture offers only the payment methods your company has switched on. A company administrator chooses them: from the main menu open Admin, then Settings, click the Financial tile, and tick the methods under Payment methods. A tick is saved straight away. Methods such as Roomcharge MEWS, Roomcharge PEP and Stay&Drive start switched off.

Before you start: any staff account can register, capture, release and delete a manual hold. Only a company administrator can change Payment methods. Capture needs a customer on the booking; registering the hold does not.

Using manual holds

From the main menu, open Bookings, then Overview, and open the booking. Click Payments at the top of the booking. The Booking payments screen opens. On the Booking details screen, Payments is on the Financial tab.

Register the hold

1. Below the payment list, click Register authorization (manual). The pop-up Register deposit authorization opens.
2. Check Amount. It starts at the booking's deposit. Type the amount the other system actually holds.
3. Currency shows your company currency and cannot be changed.
4. Pick the Valid until date. It starts empty and must be today or later.
5. Type the other system's number in Authorization reference, if you have one.
6. Click Save. The hold appears in the list with Source Manual and status pending. Cancel saves nothing.

Charge part or all of it

1. On the hold's row, click Capture. The pop-up Capture deposit authorization opens. At the top it shows the hold's Amount, Amount captured, Valid until and Authorization reference.
2. Capture amount starts at what is still open. Type what the other system charged.
3. Choose the Payment method. It starts empty.
4. Check Payment date. It starts at now.
5. Click Capture. The pop-up closes, a Deposit payment for that amount appears in the payment list, and the hold's status becomes captured.

Record that it was freed

Click Release, the red link with the bin icon on the hold's row. There is no confirmation: the status becomes released at once. Free the money in the other system yourself.

Remove a mistake

Click Delete authorization on the row. There is no confirmation: the row disappears. This works only while the hold is pending and nothing was captured.

Key details

What Capture creates. One payment with Payment type Deposit, the method and date you chose, and the Authorization reference as its payment reference. RentVisie does not charge the card for it: the other system already did. It then counts like any deposit you record yourself, and Settle works on it as usual (see Take a deposit or hold it on the customer's card).

One capture closes the hold. After a capture the status is captured, even when you charged only part. The rest is never captured from RentVisie. Make sure the other system frees it too.

How the valid-until day works. The hold stays usable until the very end of that day. Valid until is green while there is time and red once it has passed. On the next day Capture and Release are gone. The hold stays listed as pending and no longer counts as held.

A worked example. A four-day rental costs €240 including value-added tax (VAT), with a €750 deposit. The hotel blocked €750 on the guest's card, reference H-55821. You register €750, Valid until 20 November. To be paid now leaves the €750 out, and Authorize (credit card) would ask only for the rent. The car comes back on the 18th needing €85 of cleaning, which the hotel charges. You capture 85 with CreditCard. An €85 Deposit payment appears; the other €665 is never charged here. Typing 750.01 gives Amount should not exceed authorization amount.; 750.00 goes through. 0 is refused with Enter an amount greater than 0. On 21 November the same hold could no longer be captured.

Several open holds on one booking. Register authorization (manual) stays visible, even when the booking already has an open hold. Only the largest open hold counts in the Outstanding block, whether it is manual or a card hold; any other is ignored there.

Some labels stay in English. On the two pop-ups, Amount, Currency, Capture amount, Amount captured, Save, Cancel and Capture, and the message Amount should not exceed authorization amount., are in English in every language.

What to do next

When the vehicle comes back (Take a vehicle back at the end of a rental), ask the other system what it charged or freed, then click Capture or Release before the Valid until day ends. Invoice the booking (Invoice a booking) and click Settle if deposit and rent need splitting.

Q&A

Why is my payment method not in the Payment method list on Capture? Your company has switched it off. Ask a company administrator to tick it under Payment methods on the Financial settings screen, as described under Configuration. The tick counts at once; open Capture again.

Why does Capture say "Please assign a customer first."? A deposit payment needs a customer, and the booking has none. Add the customer to the booking, then click Capture again.

Why does Capture say "This authorization can no longer be captured."? Someone already captured or released it, or the Valid until day has ended, for example while the pop-up was open. The pop-up closes. Look at the row's status.

Why does Save say "Enter today or a later date."? Valid until is empty or in the past. Pick today or a later date.

Why are there no Capture or Release links on a manual hold? The Valid until day has passed, or the status is no longer pending. To record a charge the other system made after that day, use Deposit (manual) on the same screen; see Take a deposit or hold it on the customer's card. An expired hold that was never captured can still be removed with Delete authorization.

I released a hold by mistake. Can I undo it? No. Register it again with Register authorization (manual), with the same amount, date and reference. The released row stays in the list.

I registered two holds. Which one counts? Only the largest open one. Click Delete authorization on the one registered by mistake, or Release if it was real but is no longer needed.

Why does To be paid still show the deposit after I registered the hold? The Valid until day has already ended, or another open hold on the booking is larger and counts instead. Check the dates and amounts in the holds list.

Related pages: Take a deposit or hold it on the customer's card for card holds and Settle, Record a payment a customer has made for other payments, and Refund deposits and overpayments to pay a deposit back.