Security Deposits and Pre-Authorization

Whilst Smoobu does not have its own bond/security deposit management system, there are some ways you can set up a security deposit for your bookings. 

Option 1: Charge and refund deposits (direct bookings only)

Add deposit as a mandatory additional charge 

In your Booking Tool settings page, under the Additional items section, you can add a custom security deposit field as a mandatory additional charge your guests will be required to pay when making a booking through the Smoobu booking tool. 

Please note: since this deposit is being charged as an additional amount to your reservation, you will need to manually refund this amount back to your guest. 

Additionally, this will only apply to your direct website bookings and does not apply to any portal bookings.

Option 2: Pre-Authorizations

You can also choose to integrate with one of our partners to set up pre-authorization deposit payments for all your bookings, including portal bookings:

Swikly

The first integration option is with our partner Swikly. Swikly is a third party online payment system that allows users to secure reservations or security deposits via a credit/debit card imprint. 

You can find out more about Swikly and how to integrate it with your Smoobu account in our guide here: USER GUIDE: Connect your Swikly account

Charge Automation

Another option is to integrate with one of our other partners ChargeAutomation. They are a globally-recognized leader in facilitating smooth reservation payment & security deposit collection from guests. 

With their Pre-Authorized Security Deposit you can:

• Collect security deposits from any booking source in a form of authorization.
• Capture partial or full amount in case of damage.
• Choose to release the deposits manually or automatically.

You can find out more about ChargeAutomation and how to integrate it with your Smoobu account in our guide here: Partner: ChargeAutomation (BETA)