HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA (May 6, 2021): b4checkin, ltd. (“b4checkin” or “The Company”) announced that it is now an Allied Member of the IHG Owners Association, an organization dedicated to representing the interests of IHG-brand owners worldwide and maximizing the investment and long-term asset value of their IHG-branded properties.The Association’s Allied Member Program connects owners with an approved list of leading hospitality industry suppliers to help serve their core purpose of maximizing an owner’s investment in their IHG brand property. b4checkin was selected as a new Allied Member based on its signature payment platform, TransForm, which gives hotels and guests a secure, online portal to complete any transaction remotely.
“Spurred on by the pandemic, there’s a big push in the hotel industry to make everything contactless, from mobile check-in and phone-enabled room keys through to funneling all guest service requests through a messaging app,” commented Saar Fabrikant, CEO of b4checkin. “TransForm fits into this new paradigm by giving hotels a method to redirect in-person transactions through a secure ecommerce portal. This increases safety for both guests and staff by creating physical distance during the payment process.”
As an Allied Member, b4checkin is already piloting TransForm at several properties as part of the company’s larger initiative of making its properties safer for guests while still providing exceptional service.
In addition to the benefit of helping prevent the spread of COVID-19, TransForm helps hotels attain better PCI compliance through the viewpoint of credit card processors. This can result in lower transaction fees as well as greatly enhance a property’s chances of winning chargeback disputes and avoiding instances of friendly fraud.
To this end, b4checkin has recently released a Best Practice Guide to Chargebacks, outlining how hotels can mitigate the costs of chargebacks by using TransForm’s full range of security features. These include, but are not limited to, global lead time restrictions, card failure limits and closures after completion as well as CVV, AVS and 3DS settings.
ABOUT IHG OWNERS ASSOCIATION
The IHG Owners Association, originally established by Holiday Inn® founder Kemmons Wilson in 1955, was the first association of its kind in the hotel industry. The global organization currently represents the interests of more than 4,700 owners and operators of nearly 3,700 IHG® (InterContinental Hotels Group) properties in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Latin America and the Caribbean (AMER); Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Africa (EMEAA); and Greater China. The Association is a voice for its members and plays an integral role in communicating with IHG leadership on issues related to franchised hotel operations. The IHG family of brands includes Six Senses Hotels Resorts Spas, Regent Hotels & Resorts, InterContinental® Hotels & Resorts, Kimpton® Hotels & Restaurants, Hotel Indigo®, EVEN Hotels®, HUALUXE® Hotels and Resorts, Crowne Plaza® Hotels & Resorts, voco™, Holiday Inn® Hotels & Resorts, Holiday Inn Express®, Holiday Inn Club Vacations®, avid™ hotels, Staybridge Suites®, Atwell Suites™ and Candlewood Suites®. To learn more, visit www.owners.org.
ABOUT b4
b4 develops cloud-based guest service tools for the accommodation industry to help create great online experiences for booking reservations and taking online payments. With TransForm, hotels can take secure online deposits, payments and real-time authorizations from guests and bookers, to help reduce chargeback dispute costs and eliminate the need for manual credit card authorization forms. To get in touch, visit www.b4checkin.com.
