Integrated Remote Payment Collaboration for Hotels and Restaurants by Protel and TKPAY

Protel Holding and Turkish Airlines Electronic Money and Payment Services Inc. — TKPAY — have entered into a new collaboration aimed at the remote collection processes of hotel and restaurant businesses.

As part of the integration, businesses using Simpra Link will continue to manage their payment transactions through their existing panel while benefiting from TKPAY's payment infrastructure. Collections made through links sent to customers via SMS or email can be tracked within Simpra Link.

There is an important distinction here: The announced development is not a corporate merger between Protel Holding and TKPAY or an acquisition of one company by the other. The structure in question is an integration and commercial collaboration between the two companies in the field of payment technologies.

New payment infrastructure is being added to Simpra Link

Simpra Link is Protel's remote payment solution for hotels and restaurants.

In the system, a business can create a payment link for its customer and send it via email, SMS, or messaging channel. On the hotel side, reservations, events, and banquets; on the restaurant side, reservations, group meals, events, and similar collections can be made using this method.

With the collaboration with TKPAY, a new provider has been added to the infrastructure options behind the payment link.

According to Fintechtime, businesses will be able to continue their transactions within the existing Simpra Link screen without switching to a separate TKPAY panel.

This detail is important from an operational perspective. Adding a new payment provider to a business often creates separate user accounts, reconciliation processes, and reporting screens. The fundamental benefit promised by the integration is to reduce this fragmentation.

Usage in hotels starts with reservations

Payment by link is particularly used for pre-collection before reservations in hotel operations.

According to Protel's own product description, Simpra Link can work bi-directionally with hotel management systems such as OPERA and Suite8. When the payment is completed, the transaction information can be transferred to the reservation system, and the record can be updated.

This model can particularly reduce the manual workload for remote deposits and prepayments.

In a classic scenario, the front office staff receives the payment information from the customer through a separate channel, processes the collection, and then re-enters the result into the PMS. In the integrated structure, some of these steps can be carried out within a single system.

However, the real benefit of automation depends on how well the PMS, accounting infrastructure, and the business's existing workflow are integrated.

Group and event collections stand out for restaurants

On the restaurant side, usage is not limited to just paying the table bill.

The official product page of Simpra Link lists reservations, group meals, events, and current account collections among the usage scenarios. Since the system can work integrated with the POS infrastructure, the payment received can be transferred to the restaurant management system.

This structure can be particularly meaningful for high-value group reservations.

If a restaurant requires a prepayment for an organization of 20-30 people, sending a payment link to the customer instead of collecting card information via phone or email can standardize the operation and reduce the visibility of sensitive card data to staff.

How advantageous is the "advantageous commission"?

One of the highlighted elements of the collaboration between Protel and TKPAY is the special or advantageous commission rates that will be offered to Simpra Link users.

However, publicly available news does not specify what these rates are.

Therefore, it is not possible to directly conclude a "lower cost" for businesses.

When comparing the actual cost of a payment infrastructure, looking only at the single transaction commission may not be sufficient. Businesses need to evaluate the following aspects together:

• Single payment and installment transaction rates

• Foreign card commissions

• Foreign currency collection conditions

• Money transfer duration

• Refund and cancellation costs

• Virtual POS or service fees

• Chargeback processes

• Technical integration and support costs

Especially for hotels hosting foreign guests, transactions made with different currencies and foreign cards can affect the total payment cost.

Can remote payment reduce employee workload?

The value of payment technologies in HORECA is not only about enabling customers to pay faster.

The front office, reservation, sales, and accounting teams processing the same collection across different systems can create a significant operational burden.

Protel states that Simpra Link can transfer payment data to the hotel management system and that the reservation and payment records can be tracked within the same structure. These are claims made by the manufacturer; it has not been independently verified that the same result will be achieved in every business.

Nevertheless, the logic of integration makes sense from a business perspective.

If an employee needs to create a payment link, check the result separately when the payment occurs, notify accounting, and manually update the reservation record, the digital system would only have changed the payment channel.

The real efficiency emerges from connecting these steps together.

Security claims in payment technology should be read carefully

Protel mentions 3D Secure and Masterpass integrations and various security measures on the Simpra Link side. The company also states that the solution reduces the risk of fraud.

However, it should not be assumed that the risk of fraud is completely eliminated for any payment system.

HORECA businesses should consider not only technical certifications but also user authorization, strong password policies, employee access levels, refund authorizations, and social engineering risks when evaluating payment technology.

Even if the technological integration is strong, operational risks such as faulty authorization or employee account takeover may still persist.

Therefore, payment security is a topic that should be addressed in conjunction with the procedures that work with technology, rather than just the software feature.

Why are HORECA payment technologies rapidly gaining importance in Turkey?

Digital payment is increasingly becoming a part of operational systems in hotels and restaurants.

The payment infrastructure working separately from the POS or PMS can lead to the financial data of the business being scattered across different screens.

The sectorally interesting aspect of the Simpra Link–TKPAY collaboration is here: it tries to make the boundary between the payment provider and the business management software less visible.

If this trend continues, businesses may place more emphasis on the integration capacity with the POS, PMS, reservation, and accounting systems they use, rather than just the commission rate when choosing a payment provider.

Stafflink's Opinion

In our view, the most critical aspect of the Protel–TKPAY collaboration for businesses is not the "payment link" but how seamlessly the collection data connects to the operational system.

A new technology for a restaurant or hotel creates real value when it does not send the employee to another screen, reduces manual data entry, and facilitates accounting reconciliation.

Commission rates are certainly important. However, low transaction costs may not translate into overall cost advantages in a structure that increases the manual workload for employees or leaves complex reconciliations to the finance team.

Therefore, businesses should measure three things together when evaluating such payment integrations: transaction cost, operational time, and error risk.

Payment technologies that will provide lasting advantages in the sector will not only be those that accelerate collections; they will be solutions that can keep the process from reservation to accounting as much as possible in a single data flow.