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Card payments as pending

  • July 28, 2026
  • 4 replies
  • 77 views
Mark Alexander Joel
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Can I ask what other hotels using Mews do when a payment gets stuck in "Pending" for 12 hours and is then voided?

I just had an OTA guest with a fairly large food and beverage bill whose payment ended up as "Pending", only to be voided 12 hours later. Now we risk losing that revenue.

I travel a lot myself, and I have never had a card payment take 12 hours to process. My cards are always charged instantly, and they all have two-factor authentication enabled. How do you handle situations like this?

Best answer by josue.orellana

Hello ​@Mark Alexander Joel, 

I’m Josue - one of the Community Ambassadors - and I’m happy to help clarify your question regarding payments that go to PENDING status. 

You are right that a payment showing as Pending should not be treated as successfully paid. In this state, Mews is still waiting for confirmation from the payment gateway. If that confirmation is not received within the processing window, the payment can move to Failed and the related authorization may be released or voided.

For that reason, the safest hotel workflow is:

  • Before closing the bill or allowing the guest to leave, confirm that the payment is Charged/Captured, not Pending.

  • If it is still Pending, do not immediately charge the card again. First check whether the guest sees a completed charge or only a temporary authorization/hold, because Mews and the gateway can occasionally show different states.

  • If the original payment later becomes Failed or voided, take a new payment only after confirming that the first transaction was not captured. Then make sure the confirmed payment is linked to the correct bill.

  • If this affects multiple payments or happens repeatedly, contact Mews Support and provide the reservation and payment details. Mews can compare the Mews record with the gateway record and check for an incident or synchronization problem.

I agree that the user experience could be clearer. Staff should not have to assume that a payment succeeded simply because the terminal interaction completed. At the same time, cancelling every transaction immediately when confirmation is delayed could create a duplicate-charge risk if the gateway actually authorized the card and the confirmation arrives later. 

The official status guidance is available in What does this payment status mean?.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to let me know! 😎

~ Best regards, 

MarkAJ

      4 Replies

      Robin Gustavsson
      Trailblazer
      Forum|alt.badge.img+5

      Can I ask what other hotels using Mews do when a payment gets stuck in "Pending" for 12 hours and is then voided?

      I just had an OTA guest with a fairly large food and beverage bill whose payment ended up as "Pending", only to be voided 12 hours later. Now we risk losing that revenue.

      I travel a lot myself, and I have never had a card payment take 12 hours to process. My cards are always charged instantly, and they all have two-factor authentication enabled. How do you handle situations like this?

      Hello,

      Yes, we see this from time to time.

      On 25 July, however, it happened more frequently than usual, so there may have been an issue with Mews or the payment gateway (Adyen).

      Best regards, Robin
        Mark Alexander Joel
        Forum|alt.badge.img+1

        I asked in a closed Best Western forum. Nobody had noticed this because they assumed the payment had gone through. That is quite worrying, as there is no warning or indication that the payment is still pending.

        Ideally, the terminal should cancel the transaction immediately if it cannot be completed, unless the Mews developers expect us to ask the guest to wait 12 hours before we know whether the payment was successful or not. 😅

        MarkAJ
        josue.orellana
        Community Ambassador
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        • josue.orellanaCommunity Ambassador
        • Community Ambassador
        • Answer
        • August 14, 2026

        Hello ​@Mark Alexander Joel, 

        I’m Josue - one of the Community Ambassadors - and I’m happy to help clarify your question regarding payments that go to PENDING status. 

        You are right that a payment showing as Pending should not be treated as successfully paid. In this state, Mews is still waiting for confirmation from the payment gateway. If that confirmation is not received within the processing window, the payment can move to Failed and the related authorization may be released or voided.

        For that reason, the safest hotel workflow is:

        • Before closing the bill or allowing the guest to leave, confirm that the payment is Charged/Captured, not Pending.

        • If it is still Pending, do not immediately charge the card again. First check whether the guest sees a completed charge or only a temporary authorization/hold, because Mews and the gateway can occasionally show different states.

        • If the original payment later becomes Failed or voided, take a new payment only after confirming that the first transaction was not captured. Then make sure the confirmed payment is linked to the correct bill.

        • If this affects multiple payments or happens repeatedly, contact Mews Support and provide the reservation and payment details. Mews can compare the Mews record with the gateway record and check for an incident or synchronization problem.

        I agree that the user experience could be clearer. Staff should not have to assume that a payment succeeded simply because the terminal interaction completed. At the same time, cancelling every transaction immediately when confirmation is delayed could create a duplicate-charge risk if the gateway actually authorized the card and the confirmation arrives later. 

        The official status guidance is available in What does this payment status mean?.

        If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to let me know! 😎

        ~ Best regards, 

        josue.orellana
          Mark Alexander Joel
          Forum|alt.badge.img+1

          Thank you very much for your response Josue; I appreciate it.

          I fully understand the complexity of this issue. However, what concerns me is that the Mews UI contains a lot of information, often displayed in the same font and with limited use of clear colour coding. As a result, it is not always easy for staff to immediately notice whether a payment has been successfully completed or has ended up in a “Pending” status.

          One suggestion would be to work together with the payment terminal manufacturer so that the terminal itself immediately and clearly communicates the final payment status, both visually and through sound, to the guest and the staff member handling the transaction.

          With all due respect, I do not believe it is reasonable to ask a guest to check with their bank whether a payment has actually been completed. Determining the status of a payment should be the responsibility of the payment system we are using, not the guest.

          So, to summarise: I appreciate your response, but I do not agree with the logic that hotel staff should ask guests to verify with their bank whether a payment has gone through. In my view, Mews should immediately reject a payment that cannot be confirmed, rather than leaving it in a Pending status for an extended period.

          I would also like to emphasise that we have actually lost revenue because of this. In a busy front desk environment, with several guests waiting, staff have either failed to notice that a payment was Pending or have understandably not felt comfortable asking a guest to contact or check with their bank before proceeding.

          This is therefore not only a UI or workflow issue for us; it creates a genuine financial risk for the hotel.

          MarkAJ
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