Introduction: Boostly Podcast dives into payment solutions for hosts.
[00:00:00] Liam: Hi, welcome to the Boostly podcast. This is the podcast that gives hosts the tools, the tactics, the training, and also the confidence so you can go out there and get yourselves more direct. We do a mini series on this podcast where we interview people and services, which will help you as a host in your hospitality journey today, we've got Chris from Yapstone.
[00:00:21] Liam: He is going to be talking about a service that you may wish to use, uh, which is all about the payment side of things. So I'm interested to dive in, find out more and take you on this journey. Great to be here. Chris, what would you like people to get from this episode? Uh, what would you like them to take away from this podcast?
[00:00:41] Chris: Yeah, really, you know, the confidence and understanding of using a payment management or payment solution that is suited to their, to their business. You know, at Yapstone, we, we are solely focused on short term rental and really just trying to give, give hosts the confidence of using a payment solution that really fits their needs and having the support at the back end that helps them with their business.
[00:01:04] Liam: You mentioned you specifically focus on, uh, short term rental. So I think it's a great segue into, uh, what is Yapstone and what does it do?
Yapstone Overview: Simplifying STR payments with tailored solutions.
[00:01:16] Chris: So I mean, Yapstone in its purest form is a payments management company or a payment gateway payment process. So, you know, there's so many acronyms around to describe what we do, but essentially we are the payment gateway.
[00:01:28] Chris: So, in essence, we would sit on a website or on a PMS, um, and enable the, the PMS whomever to, to, to take a booking. Um, and then we, we act as the, the acquirer at the backend, which essentially manages the, the, the funds. But the critical thing that we really do well, and, and that really stems from the amount of time that we've been doing this.
[00:01:48] Chris: We've been in STR for about 25 years. Is really managing the payouts at the backend, because that can be the really complex part of the, the payments journey, if you like. Um, you know, it's a single payment from a, from a guest, you know, making a reservation or, you know, or installments. But actually then you've still gotta make payments to your partners.
[00:02:06] Chris: You know, it could be maintenance, it could be laundry, it could be, you know, various other partners that you are working with. As an individual property owner, or property management company, or, or a PMS. So ensure then that the, the, the pay, the, the relevant people are getting paid the right amount at the right time.
[00:02:22] Liam: Nice, nice. And that is quite different from some of the other processes out there, which will just pop it into one place. And, uh, you know, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's harder for them because then we have to have more transactions. Our accountants as hosts, uh, asking us what each transactions are for and things like that.
[00:02:40] Chris: Yeah, it definitely simplifies it. And, um, you know, it allows the host then to really concentrate on what they're good at. And that's, you know, creating experiences for their guests. You know, it just, it takes one area out of the equation that, that frankly is really important, but it's probably something that the host doesn't really want to worry about too much.
[00:02:58] Chris: And we take that away for them.
[00:03:00] Liam: And I guess two things come to mind when it comes down to payment processing is first of all, I've got to really trust the, the. And you mentioned you've been doing this for 25 years. So talk us through, uh, you know, sort of, uh, how you've specialized in short term rental instead of, you know, all the other avenues that people could go down.
Yapstone Overview: Simplifying STR payments with tailored solutions.
[00:03:20] Chris: It's a really good question. And I think, you know, our founders and, and, and, you know, co founders really saw a niche in the market. You know, as a short term rental kind of started to be born, you know, there's always been around up to an extent, but we kind of seen the acceleration of it with the OTAs, you know, booking.com
[00:03:37] Chris: Airbnb and so on. Um, and we really saw an opportunity actually to manage payments on behalf of, you know, the larger organizations or the OTAs. Um, but also then, you know, helping individuals drive. Revenues and management into their own organizations, you know, whether that be a single property or be hundreds of thousands that are listed on a booking.
[00:03:59] Chris: Um, and we've seen, you know, the, the, the vertical evolve over the last few years. I mean, certainly we're seeing an acceleration now of, um, sort of payment instruments and the way that people want to pay is changed quite dramatically over the last few years. You know, typically it was credit cards. That was it.
[00:04:19] Chris: You know, and now we're seeing kind of a, uh, an explosion into wallet based payments. So, you know, Apple Pay, Google Pay and various other bank transfer in the UK is becoming more and more prevalent. And it's really enabling us to then evolve and put these payment options in front of the customers, you know, at a timely, uh, at the right time.
[00:04:40] Chris: Um, but also then enabling us to, to evolve our solutions to suit the, the property owners and, you know, and the platforms. Um, But the critical piece, and I think all, all, all property owners come across this, is chargebacks, where, you know, someone says the, the stay wasn't up to standard, I want my money back, I'm going to charge it back through the card scheme, or from my card issuer.
STR Focus: How Yapstone adapts to hosts’ evolving payment needs.
[00:05:00] Chris: We win about 80 percent of chargebacks that are, that are presented to us on behalf of our customers. Um, so, you know, we, we are quite happy to work with our customers to challenge those chargebacks and then 80 percent win rates actually pretty high, um, especially in, in kind of hospitality and, and, and, and travel industries.
[00:05:20] Chris: And that's been built up over a long period of time. Um, you know, so we have the expertise in house actually to say, actually, you know, what, we, we, we've got a really good propensity to win this charge back for you. Um, and it's really, you know, there's a lot of people who've been at Yapstone of time. So there's, there's a lot of knowledge that's kind of evolved, but they really care about the business as well.
[00:05:41] Chris: And, you know, said why, you know, I'm not saying that they do and I don't, but, you know, they, they really care about our property owners and, and, and, and want to help them improve their, their business, you know, ultimately. Everybody gets paid when we get paid, and a booking's made. But if we can help the front end of the website, or we can make some adjustments, or make some recommendations that help the host improve their own website, or their friction at checkout, or whatever that is, then ultimately it means that they have more bookings.
[00:06:11] Chris: If they're making more money, then their partners are making more money, and frankly, so are we, you know, the full parties.
[00:06:18] Liam: And you mentioned chargebacks and I know there'll be a few people who are newer hosts and things like that. So what is a chargeback and how and why does it occur and how does Yapstone help to reduce it?
[00:06:32] Liam: Is there something you guys do different to win that 80 percent or is it just the expertise?
[00:06:40] Chris: It's predominantly expertise, but a chargeback essentially is when the consumer says that they haven't received all products or services up to a certain standard. There are a number of different reasons for chargebacks.
[00:06:51] Chris: A common one that we see in, in STR is, um, they haven't read the, uh, the cancellation policy correctly. Um, so, you know, so if you cancel within three weeks or whatever it might be on your terms and conditions, you don't get a refund. So people are going, well I've cancelled my holiday, but I haven't received a refund.
[00:07:12] Chris: So they will present that and say to, to their car issuer and say, look, you know, I should be, I want you to charge this back to, to the property owner or the host because I didn't stay. But then, you know, if they've checked a box to say I've read the terms and conditions, Then that problem kind of goes away because they've ticked the box to say that they've read the terms and conditions and therefore they're not entitled to a, to a refund.
[00:07:35] Chris: But we do see some crazy chargeback reasons, you know, the stars weren't bright enough, um, you know, um, the sheets were too crisp, you know, or the, you know, the Wi Fi didn't extend to the beach, that kind of thing, you know, where, where people are just trying it on for reasons to just try and get a, a, a refund.
[00:07:55] Chris: Yeah.
Payment Security: Importance of strong terms and 2FA.
[00:07:55] Liam: It's a scary thing for hosts in general because I mean, I've, I've hosted well over, say, getting on for about 10, 000 guests now across all the properties. But, um, out of all of them, there's one that I remember who I'm sure was trying to defraud us, you know, like it was every little thing that could be mentioned from, you know, I walked in and there was a weed on the driveway to, um, you know, there was a crumb next to the you know, like they, they literally just put pictures of literally everything.
[00:08:27] Liam: And, um, We had actually had an inspection earlier that day from we've gone in, we employ somebody to do inspections and they're really tough, you know, they go in and literally I worry if, if I, I would be like, Oh God, the inspector and people don't know the inspections coming in, but she had gone in and, uh, she'd picked up like one or two bits, which had been corrected at a time, but she hadn't picked up on anything that this guest had mentioned.
[00:08:49] Liam: And of course, inevitably, um, you know, they, they want to go down the charge back route. Now, I don't know if this is. Um, absolutely true, but they didn't put in the charge back, but I understood that because we've got signed terms and conditions, so we've got that as, as one thing, which is a tick, um, we never just take the card details.
[00:09:10] Liam: So we, we literally never take our details and just put them through. We always send a payment link, which I understand is usually two factor authentication. Does this, does this sound like rings true? Yeah. And, um, yeah. And then because of that, it's very hard for them To say I didn't get what I wanted, you know, because even if they've got pictures of the stay and saying it wasn't as advertised.
[00:09:31] Liam: Well, they're there. We've got terms, you know, you've even got pictures of them on the ring doorbell outside, you know, like, so, you know, it was, uh, we, we're well covered. They didn't put through the charge back, but you just really felt like it was going to. It's gonna come down to that. And the only other instance that I've had of this is in my very early days, it must have been my third ever bookend from one of the big OTAs.
[00:09:53] Liam: And I understand a lot of people, especially watching this podcaster or listening to this podcast, will be, um, worried about direct bookings because of chargebacks. Like, hey, I think they think they're more protected from. some of the OTAs, but for this particular OTA, which just provided the card details in the early days where I did charge the card details, it was somebody's stolen card.
[00:10:14] Liam: They'd used somebody's stolen card and it was absolutely right that that money go back to whoever the poor soul was who got it, uh, you know, who, who had the card stolen. But for me, where this person stayed damaged the place, there was about 1400 pounds worth of damage. Plus I had lost the six, 700 pounds stay.
[00:10:32] Liam: Through the chargeback. So I, I certainly learned really quickly that anything you can do to help, you know, against chargebacks, terms and conditions signed that tick box you mentioned, and, uh, being with, uh, card, um, uh, facilitator or a payment facilitator that, you know, deals with these things or, or can help with these things is certainly, um, certainly a, an advantage, isn't it?
[00:10:56] Chris: Yeah, it is. And, you know, that's exactly what we do. You know, what I mentioned earlier, you know, that we work with, with our customers and partners to really try and promote and improve what they do from an operational perspective. And that boils down into terms and conditions and, you know, where they, where they should be and, you know, various other bits and pieces that we can help with.
Final Thoughts: Yapstone’s commitment to hosts’ success.
[00:11:18] Chris: You know, the, the lost and stolen cards are a different kind of charge back if you like. You know, we don't tend to see so much of those now, um, certainly not in the UK and Europe. On the card payment side, at least, because of, as you mentioned, the two factor authentication or 3D Secure. Um, not so common in the U.
[00:11:37] Chris: S. Um, 3D Secure is really well, well adopted, certainly in the U. K. Um, but not so much in the U. S. Um, so there, there is more of a propensity, I would say, for chargebacks in the U. S. than perhaps in, in the U. K. and Europe and the rest of the world. It's kind of a little bit more wallet driven, I would say. Um, Which then gives you, gives you some protection as a, as a user anyway, you know, you've got the, the biometrics you use your wallet.
[00:12:04] Chris: So there are certain aspects you can do to safeguard your card, but actually when it comes down to it, safeguarding your business as a, as a property owner that is, is, you know, it's, it's, it's our business as well.
[00:12:15] Liam: Thank you so much for, for joining us on the podcast. And, um, if you're a listener to this and you, uh, are Well, you'd like to share this with friends, family, um, or anybody who would get value and could go and use Yapstone services, please do share this with them and we will see you on the next episode of Boostly Podcast.
[00:12:33] Liam: Thanks again.
