ConnexPay launches Hotel PayValet for travel managers

ConnexPay has launched Hotel PayValet for travel management companies to address hotel payment problems linked to virtual cards at check-in.

The managed service combines virtual card issuing with hotel payment delivery and verification before a traveller arrives. It aims to reduce cases in which hotel staff cannot find payment details at the front desk, leaving travellers to use personal cards while travel management company staff try to resolve the issue.

Hotel payments have long been a weak point in corporate travel operations because booking, payment and check-in often involve several parties and manual steps. When payment information does not reach the property in time, travel management companies can face support calls, follow-up work with hotels, gaps in expense data and more difficult post-trip reconciliation.

Under the new service, ConnexPay issues the virtual card, validates payment authorisation and works directly with hotels to confirm payment information before check-in. This gives travel management companies one provider across the payment workflow rather than requiring separate providers and manual handling.

Hotel network

At launch, Hotel PayValet provides access to more than 14,000 hotels through ConnexPay's integration with Sertifi. That total is expected to rise by more than 40,000 additional properties by the end of 2026 as the company expands its hotel partner network.

Clients using the service will have a single integration and contract, along with visibility into payment activity. ConnexPay said the service is designed to improve access to payment and folio data, helping travel management companies track hotel spend and reconcile transactions more efficiently.

The offering is part of ConnexPay's wider push into managed payment services for the travel sector. Alongside hotel payment delivery and verification, it also supports the capture and transmission of payment and folio data for clients handling complex travel payments.

ConnexPay processes more than USD $12 billion annually, according to the company. It sells payment services to customers including insurance providers, vertical software platforms and businesses that manage complex payment flows.

Travel management companies have become a growing market for payment specialists as they look for ways to reduce manual back-office work while giving corporate clients better spend reporting. Hotel bookings remain one of the harder areas to standardise because payments often depend on property-level processes rather than a single industry-wide system.

Ben Peters, Chief Executive Officer of ConnexPay, said the new service is aimed at a problem that has become routine in the sector.

"Hotel payment issues have been accepted as part of doing business for far too long," Peters said. "When a traveler reaches the front desk and payment isn't ready, everyone is affected. With Hotel PayValet, we're helping travel management companies solve those issues before they impact the traveler by combining our payment technology with the operational expertise needed to support successful hotel payment delivery."