We spoke with four hotels across the US to hear how ID scanning is helping streamline their hospitality business. From densely-populated urban locations, cruise ship ports and tourist points of interest, and rural B&B-style lodging, here’s how easy ID verification has improved their operations.
While we offer a wide range of solutions for the hospitality industry, most of our hotel customers use ParseLink data capture software with a compatible ID scanner during their check-in process.
The users at the four hotels we spoke with, Green Tortoise Hostel, Super 8, Rodeway Inn, and Holiday Motel, each said that ID scanning has sped up the guest check-in process, improving customer experience and reducing labor time, and has helped fight fraudulent chargebacks.
Integrating ID scanning with hotel PMS platforms
Of the four hotels we spoke with, they were using three different PMS/CRS platforms. Fortunately, our ID scanning solutions are compatible with any existing hospitality management software, so there were no interruptions to processes or need for extra implementations.
Improving slow, manual hotel check-in processes
Prior to implementing ID scanning, these hotels were wasting valuable customer and employee time with manual ID review. Employees were:
- Manually typing guest information from guest IDs and passports, attempting to read the small print and find where information was located on out-of-state IDs
- Potentially mistyping information, entering inaccurate data into guest folios
- Scanning images of IDs and passports and uploading into the PMS or CRS
For three of the four hotels we spoke to, ensuring guest data was being entered accurately and efficiently was the top priority when implementing ID scanning. By pulling data directly from the government-issued ID, they can ensure all guest data in their PMS is 100% accurate.
The solution: ParseLink automated data capture and an ID scanner
The first step to implementation was for the hotels to decide which of our compatible image-capturing ID scanners best fit the needs of their hotel. Each hotel we spoke to was using a different scanner due to the variety of needs each location has. Locations that encounter a lot of passports opted for the Regula 7017, locations that scan mostly North American IDs but wanted full authentication chose the Thales CR5400, while locations that encounter North American IDs and don’t need full authentication use the E-Seek M280.
Each of these scanners was paired with ParseLink data automation software to automatically populate the information from the ID into their respective hospitality management system.
“The information populates seamlessly into our Cloudbeds platform.”
Holiday Motel Manager
Outcome: efficiency and accuracy
All of the hotels that implemented our ID scanning solutions saw instant results, including:
- More efficient guest check-in process
- 100% accurate data capture
- Automatically saving images of guest ID or passport to meet regulatory requirements
The second challenge: fighting hotel chargebacks and preventing fraud
As anyone in the hospitality industry knows, hotels are a prime target for fraud. Forbes has reported that over half of all credit card fraud occurs at hotels.
According to PYMNTS, around half of guests will initiate a chargeback instead of a refund. While there may be valid reasons for some of these chargeback attempts, research has shown that $150 billion in hotel revenue is lost to fraud annually. Hotels often lack concrete evidence needed to successfully dispute these chargeback attempts.
Identity fraud and credit card fraud continue to plague the hotel industry and are actually the leading cause for chargeback disputes. Criminals often rely on lapses at the front desk to get away with their fraud schemes, hoping manual processes will let purposefully misspelled information or mismatched ID and credit card information fly under the radar until it is too late.
The solution: creating audit trails and verifying ID authenticity
By automatically storing ID information and images, ParseLink helps to create an audit trail to dispute fraudulent chargeback attempts. Linking the ID used to the account helps hotel management quickly and successfully fight chargeback attempts.
Hotels with high cases of fraud have chosen to implement full ID authentication to their processes. ParseLink Enterprise, paired with an ID scanner capable of authentication, catches 95% of fake IDs. Using more than 400 AI-powered security checks, combined with UV, IR, and white light scanning, our authentication solutions catch fraud during guest check-in, allowing hotels to deny entry before fraud can take place.
Outcome: fewer chargebacks and fraud
Merchants who use identity verification tools, like ID scanning see win rates against chargebacks higher than the industry average of 30%.
“[This solution] is very beneficial against chargebacks from credit card companies”
Rodeway Inn Manager
A manager at the Green Tortoise in San Francisco said that ParseLink was able to alert potential fraud – “There was one time someone tried to use someone else’s ID to check in.” When the image from the ID populated into Cloudbeds, they realized the image was not of the person attempting to check in, without having to scrutinize the ID photo. “We noticed that the face didn’t match so refused to check him in.”
IDScan.net’s solutions for hotel ID scanning
Our team works with hotels around the world to help them select the best ID scanning solutions to meet their needs. Our ID scanners instantly detect fake IDs, verify age, capture ID and passport images, and automatically collect guest data to speed up the check-in process. IDScan.net integrates seamlessly into hospitality management software, ensuring your customer data enters the system with 100% accuracy, and each ID scan can be associated with the customer folio. Reach out to our team of identity experts to learn more.
