Understanding the Issue and Its Impact on Hotels
According to a report by fintech company Zatlas, 37% of hotel bookings paid at the destination are made using fraudulent credit cards. Of these, 40% result in cancellations, and another 10% are no-shows, preventing hotels from applying penalties and leading to lost profitability.
Additionally, 12% of prepaid reservations through online travel agencies maintain outstanding balances even a year after the stay.
Zatlas’s Solution to Combat Financial Challenges
Zatlas addresses these challenges through automated card validations at the time of booking, enforcing hotel policies for charges, and recovering outstanding funds without disrupting daily operations. This approach ensures continuous income even when payment data changes and automates the collection of over 200,000 outstanding balances from intermediaries.
The Broader Impact on the Hospitality Industry
Beyond individual guest experiences, these technologies also have a significant volumetric impact. In an industry processing millions of transactions annually, small financial leaks accumulate into structural risks.
Mexico’s Tourism Industry: A Case Study
During the first half of 2025, Mexico welcomed 15.6 million tourists and achieved an average occupancy rate of 58.7% in the country’s main destinations.
The Mexican hotel industry contributes 8.6% to the nation’s GDP.
However, “behind these positive indicators lies a structural problem: the industry’s systems are designed to facilitate bookings, not necessarily ensure effective collection. Late cancellations, fraudulent card usage, and outstanding balances from online reservations result in losses that can total millions of dollars at scale,” Zatlas stated.
Zatlas’s Technology: Quantifiable Benefits
According to the company, their technology eliminates fraud exceeding 500 million pesos, recovers lost portfolio worth over 40 million pesos, and reduces commissions by more than 100 million pesos. It also automates the collection of over 200,000 outstanding balances.
Since implementation began, hotels adopting this model have recovered an average of 50,000 dollars from uncollected reservations over the past 12 months.
Key Questions and Answers
- What is the main issue faced by the hotel industry? The primary challenge is ensuring effective collection of bookings, as systems are designed to facilitate reservations. Late cancellations, fraudulent card usage, and outstanding balances from online reservations lead to significant financial losses.
- How does Zatlas address these challenges? Zatlas uses automated card validations, enforces hotel policies for charges, and recovers outstanding funds without disrupting daily operations. This approach ensures continuous income and automates the collection of outstanding balances.
- What are the quantifiable benefits of using Zatlas’s technology? The technology eliminates fraud exceeding 500 million pesos, recovers lost portfolio worth over 40 million pesos, reduces commissions by more than 100 million pesos, and automates the collection of over 200,000 outstanding balances. Hotels have recovered an average of 50,000 dollars from uncollected reservations over the past 12 months since implementing this model.
