How payments work for Casual bookings

All Casual bookings on the SpacetoCo platform come with payment upfront, even in the event of an edit/change. This ensures that payment is guaranteed for the Host after the booking is complete (see this article for getting paid as a Host). 

We use an online payment gateway called Stripe for all Casual bookings that allows funds to be transacted securely through the SpacetoCo platform. Stripe uses encryption software to keep all details secure so you (or us) don’t have to worry about a thing (see our security article for more information)

Here is the basic rundown of how payment for casual bookings works:

1. At the time of requesting a new booking or editing an existing booking, we run a check to see if there are enough funds on the Guest's nominated payment card. A booking request will not proceed if there are insufficient funds. 
2. If there are enough funds, we place a 'hold' on the Guest card up to the total value of the booking. 
3. We then pass the booking through to the Host for approval. The Host has up to 6 days to accept or decline a booking. 
   1. If the booking request is declined or ignored, we simply release the funds back onto the customer card. 
   2. If the booking is confirmed by the Host, we capture the required amount from the Guests card (which includes a non-refundable Guest Booking Fee)
4. Payment for the booking is held securely in Stripe and released to the Host following the completion of the booking (see this article for getting paid as a Host).

SpacetoCo automatically generates receipts following each transaction, which are emailed to the Guest and Host and also can be downloaded from the SpacetoCo dashboard. 

In the event of a cancellation, please see this article for more information.

‼️Important Notice ‼️

Successful payments from expired cards on the account:

This happens because of a service called a card updater or account updater, which automatically provides updated card details to our payment processor, Stripe. Card networks like Visa and Mastercard offer these services to help prevent payment declines—especially for recurring charges—when a physical card expires or is replaced.

As a result, even if the card itself is expired, the underlying payment credentials are often refreshed automatically, allowing transactions to continue smoothly. This ensures the customers can keep using our services without needing to manually update their card information.

You can learn more about Card Account Updater by visiting these links: 

https://stripe.com/resources/more/what-is-a-card-account-updater-what-businesses-need-to-know 

https://stripe.com/newsroom/news/network-tokens-card-account-updater 

https://stripe.com/guides/optimizing-authorization-rates#card-account-updater