Virtual terminal to take credit card payments for chambre d’hotes?
As a chambre d’hotes we ask for deposits to secure a booking. This is not a problem generally with French guests, who send a cheque; especially if booked directly. However we use other booking sites and we do have a problem with the occasional no shows or people who try and cancel at the last minute. We have clear cancellation and deposit policies so really the client knows immediately (if they look).
I would like to take credit cards, to facilitate this sort of thing being stopped. I tried to obtain a virtual terminal through PayPal for this, but I seem to have to jump through hoops. I suppose I can ask my bank, but are you aware of a bank or company that does not charge 250€ a year just for the terminal, handles small entrepreneurs and is easy to obtain a system or PDQ machine or virtual one for taking credit cards?