Malaysia-based hotel technology company ROOMIE has launched an integrated payment gateway designed for hotels and tourism businesses, bringing regional payment methods into its guest engagement platform.
The company said the system allows hotel guests to pay for room bookings, room service, laundry, entertainment and other services without leaving the chat or booking channel they are already using. ROOMIE is positioning the payment layer for travelers from markets including China, India, Korea, Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines.
The launch adds a transaction layer to a platform that already handles guest communications, mobile check-in and check-out, bookings and service requests. ROOMIE said it currently works with about 100 hotels across Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam and aims to double that base over the next 12 months.
L-R:
– CS Goh – Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of ROOMIE
– Dr. Sri Ganesh Michiel – President of MyBHA (Malaysia Budget & Business Hotel Association),
– Datin Christina Toh – President of MAH (Malaysian Association of Hotels)
– Shaharuddin M Saaid – Executive Director of MAHO (Malaysian Association of Hotel Owners)
– June Yap – Vice President (VP) Business Development (BD) & Partnerships ROOMIE
Regional payment methods move into the hotel guest journey
ROOMIE said the gateway supports payment methods familiar to travelers across Asia, including UPI for India, TrueMoney and Line Pay for Thailand, as well as payment options used by visitors from China and Southeast Asia.
Rather than redirecting customers to a separate checkout process, the company has built payments into the same conversational or booking flow used to request services. ROOMIE said this is intended to reduce drop-off between a guest deciding to buy something and completing the transaction.
CS Goh, Chief Executive Officer of ROOMIE, said the company wants hotels to make technology operate in the background while allowing guests to use payment methods and communication channels they already know.
ROOMIE cited its own platform data showing lower abandonment in its chat-based booking process than the benchmark it referenced for hotel booking sites. It also said its integrated payment process had improved conversion for in-hotel transactions. These figures are company-reported and will depend on the properties and workflows involved.
The model resembles a wider shift toward embedding payments directly into customer engagement software. TNGlobal recently covered Superbench’s integration of HitPay payments into an AI customer engagement platform, another example of software providers trying to reduce the handoff between a customer conversation and checkout.
Hotel technology expands beyond booking
ROOMIE’s platform consolidates communications across channels including WhatsApp, Facebook and hotel customer relationship management systems. It also supports mobile check-in and check-out and automates routine guest requests.
The company said it has engaged 5.8 million guests on behalf of hotel customers and processed or automated 3.6 million orders and requests covering food and beverage, housekeeping, maintenance, reservations and sales.
ROOMIE also said it has signed a contract with a hotel group covering about 1,800 rooms. Its disclosed customer base includes properties under brands such as St. Giles, Wyndham, Hard Rock, Frasers and Resorts World.
June Yap, Vice President of Business Development and Strategic Partnership at ROOMIE, said reducing the number of steps between a guest’s decision and payment can help hotels capture more of the demand generated through their digital channels.
Tourism recovery raises the value of local payment support
The timing coincides with continued growth in Malaysia’s inbound tourism market. ROOMIE pointed to China and India as important source markets and said payment familiarity is increasingly relevant as hotels serve travelers accustomed to different wallets, bank-transfer systems and checkout experiences.
For hotel operators, the practical question is whether a unified communications-and-payments layer can reduce failed transactions without adding complexity around refunds, reconciliation, security and guest support. The company said its platform has obtained ISO security certification and is designed to support Malaysian data-protection requirements.
ROOMIE was founded in 2016 and describes itself as a Malaysian-grown provider of hotel technology and services. Its regional expansion so far has centered on Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam.