Manual deposit handling is one of the biggest operational pain points for new rental operators. Lost deposits, delayed refunds, and disputed charges erode customer trust and create administrative overhead.
This guide covers automatic deposit pre-authorisation, refund workflows, and integration with local payment rails including PromptPay (Thailand), MoMo/ZaloPay (Vietnam), and SBP/YuKassa (Russia).
Most rental management software handles pre-auth and release automatically. The key is setting the right deposit amounts, refund timelines, and damage dispute process before your first booking.
Checklist
- Choose deposit method (card pre-auth, bank transfer, cash)
- Set deposit amounts by vehicle type and rental duration
- Configure automatic pre-auth in your rental software
- Define refund timeline and conditions
- Enable local payment methods for your market
- Test the deposit flow end-to-end before launch