TouchStay Integration: Digital Guidebooks Meet Payment Automation
TouchStay is a digital guidebook platform for short term rental hosts. It gives guests house manuals, local tips and check-in instructions in one branded, mobile friendly place.
Guidebooks handle the information side of the guest journey well. But they are not built for payment collection, security deposits or ID verification. Those still need a separate workflow before a guest arrives.
This article covers what a digital guidebook like TouchStay is designed for and where payment and verification automation fits in before arrival. It also shows how the two work together for hosts.
Key Takeaways
Digital guidebooks like TouchStay handle in-stay property details. They are not built for payment or ID checks.
Pre-arrival steps like guest verification, digital signatures and payment collection usually sit outside what a guidebook platform covers.
ChargeAutomation's check-in flow can reach up to a 93 percent completion rate for ID and selfie checks, with no app needed.
Security deposits can use a pre-authorization hold that releases on its own. Or guests can choose a non-refundable Damage Waiver.
Pairing a guidebook with payment automation gives hosts a consistent guest journey from booking confirmation through checkout.
What a Digital Guidebook Handles Well
TouchStay’s core strength is showing property information clearly. House rules, appliance instructions, wifi details and local tips are all in one place. Guests can read them on their phone without messaging the host.
This cuts the number of repeat questions a host gets during a stay.
A well built guidebook also improves the guest experience after arrival. Guests have a reference that is always there, so they do not rely on the host to answer in real time.
What a guidebook does not usually cover is anything that must happen before arrival: payment collection, ID verification, or a signed rental agreement.
A digital guidebook like TouchStay usually covers:
house rules and appliance instructions
wifi and access details
local recommendations
branded, mobile friendly design
fewer in-stay guest questions
Where Payment and Verification Fit Before Arrival
Before a guidebook is even relevant, a host usually needs to collect payment, verify the guest’s identity, and get a signed rental agreement. A guidebook platform is not built to handle any of these.
This pre-arrival step is where fraud risk and payment issues actually get resolved. A guidebook only reaches guests who are already confirmed and on their way.
Hosts who run a guidebook and a separate pre-arrival process often end up with two disconnected guest touchpoints. One is for information, and one is for verification and payment.
Connecting the two keeps the guest’s arrival experience consistent, from booking confirmation to the property itself.
The pre-arrival steps that usually sit outside a guidebook platform include:
ID and passport verification
selfie biometric matching
digital signature on rental agreements
security deposit or Damage Waiver collection
payment scheduling and retries
How ChargeAutomation and TouchStay Work Together
ChargeAutomation handles the pre-arrival steps a guidebook is not built for. That means ID and passport collection, selfie biometric verification, digital signature and payment, all through a single web-based check-in link.
This link can reach up to a 93 percent completion rate without an app. Security deposits use a pre-authorization hold that releases automatically after checkout. Or guests can choose the Damage Waiver, a non-refundable flat fee.
Once a guest is verified and has paid through ChargeAutomation, TouchStay’s guidebook takes over for the stay. Guests get house information and local tips, and neither tool tries to do the other’s job.
Hosts get a complete guest journey: verification and payment before arrival, then information and support during the stay. No platform is forced to do work it was not built for.
The combined TouchStay and ChargeAutomation guest journey covers:
pre-arrival ID and payment collection via ChargeAutomation
pre-authorized security deposits or Damage Waiver
branded digital guidebook for in-stay information via TouchStay
fewer in-stay guest questions
a consistent guest experience from booking to checkout
Frequently Asked Questions
Does TouchStay handle guest payment collection?
No. TouchStay is a digital guidebook platform focused on in-stay property information. Payment and security deposit collection usually need a separate tool like ChargeAutomation.
Can I verify guest ID before sending them a TouchStay guidebook?
Yes. Run ID and selfie verification through ChargeAutomation's check-in flow before arrival. Then only confirmed, verified guests move on to the guidebook and property access stage.
Do I need both a guidebook and a check-in payment tool?
Most short term rental hosts use both. A guidebook covers in-stay details. A separate tool handles the ID checks and payment before arrival.
How does a security deposit work alongside a digital guidebook?
Deposits are collected before arrival in the check-in flow. They use a pre-authorization hold that releases on its own after checkout. This is separate from the guidebook guests use during the stay.
Can guests access a guidebook without completing verification first?
That depends on how a host sets up the guest journey. Many hosts require verification and payment before sharing full property access details.
