Merchant vs Direct: Understanding Travelgate Payment Types

Payment Types Overview

Travelgate's Hotel-X API supports four payment types that determine who collects payment, when, and what card data must be transmitted to the supplier. Choosing the wrong type for a supplier is a common source of booking failures and reconciliation errors.

MERCHANT — Pay at Platform

MERCHANT means the booking platform (Stunning Club) collects payment from the traveller and remits to the supplier on a net basis. No card data is sent to the supplier. This is the preferred model for most B2C flows as it gives the platform full control over the payment experience and refund lifecycle.

DIRECT — Pay at Property

DIRECT means the guest pays the property directly at check-in. The platform collects no payment at booking time. A guarantee card may be required to secure the reservation — check the supplier's requirements in the Quote response's paymentType field.

CARD_BOOKING — Virtual Card at Time of Booking

CARD_BOOKING requires a virtual card number to be transmitted at the time of booking. The card is charged immediately by the supplier. This model is common for net-rate wholesale contracts. Ensure your virtual card provider supports instant issuance with the required currency and charge limits.

CARD_CHECK_IN — Virtual Card at Check-In

CARD_CHECK_IN transmits card details at booking time but the property charges the card at check-in. This introduces a delayed charge window and requires the virtual card to remain valid through the guest's departure date. Factor this into card validity and limit settings.

Routing: JusPay vs Stripe

Stunning Club routes domestic Indian transactions (INR, Indian cards) through JusPay to comply with RBI guidelines on card tokenisation and 2FA. All other currencies and international cards route through Stripe. The routing decision is made server-side based on the billing currency and card BIN.

For CARD_BOOKING and CARD_CHECK_IN types, virtual cards are issued via Stripe Issuing for international suppliers and via a partner bank's virtual card program for Indian suppliers. Always test both routing paths in staging before production go-live.