How Do Automated Payments Work on Houfy?

Requirements

• Payment provider connected: You need at least one payment provider (Stripe, Square, or PayPal) connected to your Houfy account.

• Payment policy set: Your listing must have a payment policy configured under Settings > Payment & Policies.

• Automatic payments switched on for you: go to Settings > Connected payments (houfy.com/settings/payment-settings) and turn on "Accept automatic payments".

• Automatic payments switched on for the listing: in the same place, under "Per-listing settings", make sure the listing is on. If either switch is off, nothing is scheduled, no matter what the guest agreed to.

• Guest agreement: For auto-charges to work, the guest must check the auto-charge agreement box during checkout. If the guest doesn't agree, they'll need to pay manually.

What Are Automated Payments?

Automated payments is Houfy’s system for collecting money from guests after the initial booking — without you having to lift a finger. When a guest books your property and agrees to automatic charges at checkout, Houfy securely saves their card and handles future payments on your behalf.

There are three types of automated charges:

1. Balance due charges. If you use the “Deposit + Balance” payment policy, the guest pays a deposit when they book. Houfy automatically charges the remaining balance before their check-in date.

2. Split payment charges. If you set up custom split payments, Houfy charges each installment on the dates you define.

3. Security deposit holds. If your listing has a security deposit, Houfy collects it on the date set by your deposit policy - at booking, 1, 3, or 7 days before check-in, or on check-in day. For shorter stays it's a temporary hold on the guest's card (no money is taken unless you claim damages).

   For longer stays it's collected as a charge on that date and automatically refunded after checkout if there's no damage. This follows your deposit policy whether or not automated payments are enabled.

   
   

Hold or charge? How Houfy decides

A security deposit works best as a temporary hold — no money actually leaves the guest's account, and Houfy releases the hold after checkout if there's no damage. But card authorization holds have a limit: banks only guarantee them for about 7 days, after which they expire on their own.So for every deposit — no matter when you collect it — Houfy checks whether a hold can cover the whole window: from the day it's placed, through the guest's stay, plus a short buffer (about 2 days) after checkout to release it or claim damages.

If that window fits within 7 days, Houfy places a temporary hold — no money is taken; released after checkout if you don't report damage, or captured if you do.

If the window is longer than 7 days, a hold would expire before you could act on it, so Houfy charges the deposit on your collection date and automatically refunds it after checkout if there's no damage.

Your collection date only decides when a hold is placed. If the window is longer than 7 days, Houfy charges the deposit instead - and a charged deposit is always taken on the check-in date, not on the date you chose. Note also that the dropdown offers "2 days before check-in"; that option is not yet handled by the scheduler and behaves as 7 days before check-in, so pick 1, 3 or 7 days until it is fixed.

How the System Works

Houfy’s auto-payment system runs automatically every day in three phases. You don’t need to do anything — it all happens behind the scenes.

Phase 1: Scheduling (daily)

Houfy looks at all upcoming reservations and creates a list of charges that need to happen — balance due, split payments, and security deposit holds.

Phase 2: Alerts (every 5 minutes)

Houfy sends email alerts to you and the guest - a heads-up 3 days before a charge and a reminder 1 day before. A charge is never taken until the 1-day alert has actually gone out.

Phase 3: Processing (every 5 minutes)

Houfy charges the guest's saved card, or places a hold for the security deposit when the window is short enough for a hold. There is also a fourth job, once a day, that renews any hold about to expire and releases or refunds deposits after checkout.

If a charge fails, Houfy does NOT retry it. The scheduled charge is marked failed and stays that way, and you and the guest are emailed straight away, then again 1 day, 3 days and 6 days later. Someone has to act: ask the guest to pay from the reservation page, or send them a payment link. Do not wait for an automatic second attempt.

Both you and your guest receive email confirmations after every successful charge.

Your Two Payment Policy Options

Before automated payments can do their thing, you need to choose a payment policy for your listing. You’ll find this under your listing’s Settings > Payment & Policies > Payment Policy.

Full Payment

The guest pays 100% of the booking total at the time they book. There’s nothing left to collect later, so automated payments aren’t needed for the booking amount. However, if you have a security deposit set up, Houfy can still automate the deposit hold(a hold for shorter stays, or a charge for longer ones).

Deposit + Balance

The guest pays an initial deposit when they book (you choose the percentage), and the remaining balance is due before check-in (you choose how many days before). This is where automated payments really shine — Houfy charges the balance automatically so you don’t have to remind the guest.

When you select Deposit + Balance, you configure two things:

• Initial Deposit: Choose a percentage (like 50%) or a fixed amount that the guest pays at booking.

• Balance Due: Choose how many days before check-in the remaining balance is due (for example, 10 days, 30 days, or 60 days).

⚠ If the guest didn’t agree to auto-charges at checkout, they’ll get email reminders to pay manually instead. You’ll also be notified so you can follow up if needed.

What Your Guests See

During checkout, guests see your payment policy clearly displayed. If you use Deposit + Balance, they’ll see exactly how much is due now and when the remaining balance will be charged.

There’s also an auto-charge agreement checkbox. When the guest checks this box, they’re giving permission for Houfy to charge their saved card automatically for the remaining balance. Their card details are stored securely by the payment provider (Stripe, Square, or PayPal) — Houfy never sees or stores the actual card numbers.

The Three Types of Automated Charges

Balance Due

• Charges the remaining balance after the initial deposit. One charge for the full remaining amount.

• When it charges: On the date you set (e.g., 10 days before check-in). Guest gets a 3-day and 1-day heads-up email.

Split Payment

• Breaks the total into multiple installments on dates you define. Each split is a separate charge.

• When it charges: On each date you specify in the split payment schedule. Alerts are sent before each installment.

Security Deposit

• Collected on the date set in your deposit policy. For shorter stays it's a temporary hold - no money is taken; you release it (no damage) or capture it (damage found). For longer stays it's charged on that date and refunded afte checkout if there's no damage, because a card authorization hold can't last the whole stay.

• When it charges: Based on your collection timing: at booking, 1/3/7 days before check-in, or on check-in day.

Email Alerts Timeline

Houfy keeps both you and your guest informed at every step. Here’s the timeline of emails for a typical auto-charge:

• 3 days before the charge: Both you and the guest receive a heads-up email letting you know a charge is coming. The guest sees the amount and the date it will happen.

• 1 day before the charge: A second reminder goes out to both parties. This is the last chance to make changes before the charge goes through.

• When the charge succeeds: Both you and the guest get a confirmation email with the amount charged and a receipt.

• If the charge fails: Both you and the guest are notified. Houfy will automatically retry the charge on the next processing run. The guest may need to update their card.

⚠ For guests who didn’t agree to auto-charges, Houfy sends manual payment reminders instead — on the due date, 3 days later (follow-up), and 1 day before check-in (final urgent reminder to both guest and host).

Connecting a Payment Provider

To use automated payments, you need at least one payment provider connected to your Houfy account. You can find this in your sidebar under Connected Payments.

Houfy supports three payment providers:

• Stripe (Recommended) — Supports auto-charges, security deposit holds, and card vaulting. Works best with automated payments.

• PayPal — Supports auto-charges, security deposit holds and card vaulting through PayPal Commerce.

• Square — Supports auto-charges and card vaulting.

✓ Stripe is recommended for automated payments because it supports all charge types including security deposit holds and 3D Secure authentication.

What Happens If…

…a charge fails?

Houfy does not retry a failed charge. If the guest's card is declined (expired, insufficient funds and so on) the scheduled charge is marked failed and stays that way. You and the guest are emailed immediately, then again 1 day, 3 days and 6 days later - but no further charge is attempted. Ask the guest to pay from the reservation page, or send them a payment link.

…the guest didn’t agree to auto-charges?

If the guest unchecked the auto-charge agreement box at checkout, their card isn’t saved. Houfy sends them manual payment reminders instead. They’ll see a “Pay Balance” button on their reservation page where they can make the payment themselves.

…I want to change the payment policy after a booking?

Changing your payment policy only affects future bookings. Existing reservations keep the policy that was in place when they were booked.

…the guest pays manually before the auto-charge date?

If the guest pays their balance early through the reservation page, Houfy automatically cancels any remaining scheduled charges for that reservation. You won’t be double-charged.

Related Help Posts

For detailed step-by-step instructions, see these companion guides:

• How to Set Up Auto-Payment for Balance Due & Split Payments — Walks you through configuring the Deposit + Balance payment policy and split payment schedule.

• How Do Automated Security Deposit Holds Work? — Explains the security deposit hold lifecycle: when holds are placed, how long they last, and how to release or capture them.

• Understanding Payment Alerts & Reminders on Houfy — A complete guide to every email alert Houfy sends for automated and manual payments.

Important Notes

• Card security: Houfy never stores credit card numbers. All card details are securely stored by your payment provider (Stripe, Square, or PayPal) using industry-standard encryption and tokenization.

• Auto-charge requires guest consent: A guest’s card can only be charged automatically if they checked the auto-charge agreement box during checkout. Houfy will never charge a guest without their explicit permission.

• Currency: All automated charges use the same currency as the original booking.

• Refunds: If you need to issue a refund for an automated charge, you can do so through your Houfy reservation management or directly through your payment provider’s dashboard.