Connecting Hotel Operations with Smart Tech and Secure Payments
“From a hotelier’s POV, Prommt cuts through the manualness by turning clunky, risky payment headaches into smooth, secure, and automated workflows.”
Shane Sice
Solutions Consultant | Hospitality Tech & Payments Expert
About Shane
With over 13 years in hospitality operations and technology, Shane specialises in helping hotels streamline processes, reduce friction, and get real value from their tech and payment systems.
Currently, Shane is a Solutions Consultant at Prommt, working closely with hospitality businesses to modernise and optimise their payment workflows – seamlessly and securely. Before this, Shane spent more than two years at Oracle as a Senior Implementation Consultant, where he led hotel system migrations, delivered remote training programs, and served as a Subject Matter Expert on OPERA and OPERA Cloud within the Consulting Team.
Earlier roles include time as a Level 2 Technical Analyst at Oracle, where Shane provided expert support for OPERA and OPERA Cloud environments, and at Dalata Hotel Group, where he assisted with OPERA V5 / OPERA Cloud rollouts, user training, and large-scale system migrations across multiple properties.
Whether it’s on-site, cloud-based, or payment-driven, Shane bridges the gap between hotel operations and the tech that powers them.
Shane, how did your early hotel experience shape your understanding of operations and tech, and what were the biggest tech challenges hotels faced during your time at Oracle and Dalata, particularly with group bookings and events?
I started at Jurys Inn Galway as a receptionist and moved up to Front Office Manager. It was a hands-on, fast-paced role where I had to deal with overbookings, tech issues, and guest concerns on the spot. That experience showed me how critical technology is, not only for smooth operations but also for a seamless guest experience. Overall, my experience working with hotels highlighted how systems like PMS, CRM, and payments influence staff efficiency and guest loyalty. It also underscored common challenges, like disconnected systems, manual processes, training gaps, and payment friction, that can hinder teams and negatively impact the guest journey.
A lot of tech issues were rooted in legacy processes. Manual card forms, offline pre-authorizations, and payment systems that didn’t sync well with OPERA led to data gaps and reporting issues. Features like tokenization were often underused due to poor setup or lack of training. System updates sometimes broke integrations. For group bookings and events, billing was manual and error-prone, rooming lists didn’t always import correctly, and staff spent too much time chasing deposits, impacting both efficiency and revenue.
What are the main payment challenges hotels face today, particularly around fraud and PCI compliance? How do outdated processes impact the guest experience, especially during check-in, remote bookings, or event deposits?
Some hotels are struggling with outdated processes and growing risks. Disconnected systems cause delays, errors, and lack of visibility, leaving finance teams on edge. Many properties still rely on manual, insecure workflows like emailed card forms, exposing them to fraud, chargebacks, and PCI compliance issues.
As more transactions shift online, card-not-present fraud increases, and maintaining compliance becomes tougher without proper tools. Guests now expect fast, mobile-friendly experiences, but outdated systems create friction, especially with prepayments and group/event billing.
Without automation and integration, staff waste time on manual tasks, putting both revenue and guest trust at risk. Slow check-in payments lead to long waits and frustrated guests. Clunky or insecure payment processes for remote bookings cause drop-offs, while manual chasing of event deposits delays confirmations and causes confusion.
Bottom line: Outdated workflows frustrate guests and disrupt the seamless payment experiences they expect.
From a hotelier’s perspective, what makes Prommt stand out? What feedback have you received from hotels using it, and are there any standout success stories or quotes?
From a hotelier’s POV, Prommt cuts through the manualness by turning clunky, risky payment headaches into smooth, secure, and automated workflows.
Here’s how Prommt stands out:
Seamless integration: Prommt plugs directly into OPERA, so payment data flows cleanly – no manual re-entries or errors.
Secure, PCI-compliant Pay by Link & Pay by Bank: Hotels send guests a secure payment link or bank payment option that’s fast, frictionless, and fully compliant – eliminating risky emailed card forms and manual pre-auths.
Automated payment workflows: Pre-authorizations, deposits, and group payments get handled automatically, cutting chase time and errors.
Real-time status updates: Front desk and finance teams see payment statuses instantly, so no more guessing if deposits landed or invoices are paid.
Simplified group billing: For events and conferences, Prommt supports split payments and centralized billing without the usual manual folio juggling.
Hotels consistently report that Prommt simplifies payments, reduces risk, and improves the guest experience.
Standout use cases:
- A boutique hotel boosted direct bookings by 30% with secure, frictionless prepayments via Prommt, reducing no-shows.
- A multi-property group lowered fraud risk and PCI scope by eliminating emailed card forms and manual processing.
- A busy city centre 5-star London hotel reduced their chargebacks by 60% following implementation of Prommt
In short, Prommt transforms payment headaches into seamless, guest-friendly processes, saving time, cutting risk, and driving revenue. Check out our 5-star reviews on Oracle Cloud Marketplace.
Where do you see hospitality payments evolving in the next three to five years? What advice would you give hotels assessing or upgrading their payment infrastructure?
Frictionless, mobile-first payments will become the standard. Guests will expect fast, secure options like one-click Pay by Link, mobile wallets, and instant bank payments. Anything less will feel outdated.
We’ll see deeper integration and automation across systems like PMS, POS, CRM, and payment gateways. Manual work and reconciliation will be things of the past.
Security and compliance will be top priorities. With fraud risks rising, tokenization and real-time monitoring will become the norm. PCI compliance will be built into every step.
AI will drive fraud detection and payment optimization, automatically flagging suspicious activity and improving payment flows to reduce declines and chargebacks.
We’ll see a significant increase in the adoption of Pay by Bank as an efficient payment method within hospitality, particularly suited to wedding and events payments.
Hotels will offer more flexible payment models, from dynamic deposits to tailored group billing and installment plans, giving guests the options they want without the hassle.
My advice for hotels upgrading their payment infrastructure:
- Think integration: Ensure your payment solution connects smoothly with your PMS, POS, CRM, and other systems. Avoid silos and manual workarounds.
- Prioritize security and compliance: Reducing PCI scope is a must. Look for solutions that offer tokenization, encryption, and built-in compliance tools to protect your guests and your business.
- Focus on the guest experience: Guests expect fast, flexible, mobile-friendly payments. A smooth payment process builds trust and increases conversions.
- Automate where possible: Automating tasks like deposits, pre-authorizations, refunds, and group billing reduces errors, saves time, and lets staff focus on guest service.
- Plan for growth: Choose a solution that can scale to support split payments, event billing, and multi-property operations without added complexity.
- Choose the right partners: Look for providers who understand hospitality, offer reliable support, and continuously evolve their solutions to meet your needs.