This is a reprint of the original blog, which you can read on the Worldline website here.
The hotel industry is evolving—from the moment a guest books a room to the moment they settle the bill after a stay, payments touch nearly every interaction. Guests expect frictionless experiences across online, mobile, and on-site touchpoints, while operators crave simpler reconciliation, stronger security, and faster time-to-market in a complex regulatory landscape.
Against this backdrop, Worldline and FreedomPay unveiled a strategic partnership earlier this year, designed to turn payments into a competitive advantage for hotels across Europe and the UK, with a clear path to broader expansion.
A new kind of payments backbone for hospitality
What makes this collaboration different is not just the sum of its parts, but how those parts connect. FreedomPay brings a single, unified payment gateway that orchestrates secure payment transactions, provides consolidated reporting and analytics to inform data-driven decisions, and supports offline transaction processing so merchants always stay up and running—from a front desk in Madrid to a guest’s online check-in from a laptop in Lisbon, and a mobile wallet used on a pool deck in Zurich. The result is a consistent set of rules and data, regardless of where the guest chooses to pay.
On the other side sits Worldline, an experienced acquirer with decades of knowledge in currency conversion and settlement. The partnership creates a Host2Host connection that ties FreedomPay’s gateway to Worldline’s acquiring and DCC capabilities. In practical terms, that means Worldline can route payments, apply dynamic currency conversion, and handle settlements, all coordinated through FreedomPay’s global payment orchestration platform. It’s a collaboration designed to be both robust and scalable, built for the realities of multinational hotel brands.
Who this is for—and where it starts
The partnership is designed to serve a wide spectrum of hotel operators, from mid-to-large brands to independent properties, PMS/ISV partners, and managed or hubbed operators. Rather than a one-size-fits-all approach, the platform is built to scale with a hotel portfolio as it grows, as loyalty programs mature, and as guest expectations for consistent experiences across properties increase.
Kevin Carson (FreedomPay): “This partnership enables hotels to optimize payments end-to-end—from checkout to settlements—while expanding into adjacent segments like Retail, enhancing guest experience and driving efficiency across Europe.”
What this means for operations and guests
For operators, the benefits begin at onboarding. A single, standardized interface reduces reconciliation errors and streamlines the day-to-day work of connecting to property management systems, CRM, and loyalty platforms. Payments become faster and more predictable, with centralized reporting that simplifies chargebacks and financial governance. And because the integration is designed for omnichannel journeys, guests enjoy a seamless experience—whether they’re checking in at the desk, booking online, or paying from a mobile wallet after checkout.
Security, risk, and compliance are not afterthoughts but core design principles. The partnership emphasizes PCI scope management, robust fraud prevention, and data privacy. With PSD2 and Strong Customer Authentication in mind for online channels, operators can offer secure experiences without adding friction for legitimate customers. In short, the system is designed to be both safer and more transparent for hotel teams and guests alike.
Biljana Bosnjak (Worldline): “With the combined Worldline-FreedomPay platform, hotels can rely on a scalable, secure payments backbone that supports operations across global properties, enabling practical opportunities to streamline guest transactions and growth in hospitality across Europe.”
A world of cross-border simplicity
Cross-border payments have long been a headache for hotel operators. This partnership seeks to simplify that complexity. Unified settlement and multi-currency processing through DCC, paired with standardized Host2Host flows, aims to reduce the administrative load on global hotel chains. A loyalty program integrated into the hotel network can unlock real-time benefits at checkout, while event-driven offers can be powered by a shared data fabric—always with strict adherence to privacy and security standards.
Why this matters for hotels
For hotels this partnership offers a pragmatic blueprint for modern payments—one that prioritizes speed and reliability, reduces the friction of multi-property rollouts, and creates a foundation for richer guest engagement. It’s not just about processing payments faster; it’s about delivering a consistent and trusted guest experience across every channel and every property, while giving operators clearer insights to optimize pricing, loyalty, and promotions.
Final thoughts and next steps
The world of hospitality payments is changing—and for good reason. Guests want seamless experiences, and operators want clarity, control, and confidence in their financial operations. The solution is already live and delivering results, with plans to expand further. Worldline and FreedomPay are proposing a new standard: a secure, omnichannel payments backbone that scales across Europe and beyond, accelerates time-to-market, and unlocks data-driven opportunities to delight guests. If you’re assessing a modern payments platform for a growing hotel portfolio, this partnership offers a compelling narrative and a tangible path to execution.
Reach out below to learn more about how you can redefine your payments with FreedomPay and Worldine.