paying by bank transfer on booking.com

Have you looked at reviews of the apartment?

I’ve never used booking.com so don’t know how they work or what actual research they’ve done on the properties they advertise as rentals.

If it doesn’t feel right …. Its your choice to say yes or no.

It seems dodgy, ....... I can get no information from booking.com about the bank transfer procedure, so I have not completed a reservation. Has anyone used this payment method?

Not used that payment method, but if you cannot get answers, I would look elsewhere.

Truly odd to send money to a Milan bank for a London rental. Hard to understand why a landlord would want to be paid in euros, when all his expenses related to the property are in GBP

As I understand bank transfers, the money is gone forever, where a credit card payment has a method to seek recovery if the service is not provided.

I would move on to a different apartment. Wire transfer eliminates all safeguards for you.

Bank transfers are very common in Europe. I had to use one to order on-online from a shop in Salzburg, Austria. It was very easy to do from my bank’s (Wells Fargo) website. The apartment owner would have to provide you the necessary info. needed to process the wire transfer.

Are there any reviews for the apartments on booking?

It's not an uncommon thing for apartments - but if it doesn't feel right, don't do it.

Use wise.com ( formerly transferwise.com ). Much cheaper than using your bank

That would be a big “no” from me.

I'm with "carrie". I think most Americans do not realize that bank transfers are a common method of payment in Europe, easy to do over your phone on your bank app. In the US we have "cash apps" that both parties have to pay to use, or you pay your bank, in Europe, the transaction is mostly fee free.

Basically, not dodgy, not a scam, it will cost you some to do from the US. If you are uncomfortable, go someplace else, those places probably prefer Europeans anyway.

I see 2 issues/questions

1- how hard/easy is it to do a bank transfer & how to do it

2- is it a good idea to send money to a bank in Milan to pay for lodging in London

OP could be asking either one or both.

I have booked over 100 times with Booking hotels and apartments and never has a apartment owner or hotel asked for a bank transfer. You pay through booking. They handled the paperwork not you. Why haven’t you contacted booking. Their customer service great. Then cancel and run away from this booking.

I have done bank transfers to Europe for other purposes such as gifts to friends, but this one sounds dodgy. Find a different accommodation that uses the normal booking.com payment process.

@ Lennette

The following is for information only and I make no recommendation to you.

Electronic international, intercountry, transfer of funds is a normal business transaction.
Here is a Wikipedia article on one system I am familiar with
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SWIFT

There are other articles, but this is an area for professionals. May be of interest to nerds.

Your bank should be your best source of assistance. (I doubt that booking.com is in the banking business). Yes, a bank will charge you for their expertise in this area. Or you could be like me and my mates, get a Masters in a commerce/law area and spend a few tens of thousands every year on Professional Development. A bank is probably the cheapest option for most.

The European Union has financial umbrella organizations, so a business having a bank account in Milan is no surprise to me. Maybe the letting business wishes to receive the monies direct so as not to pay any fees imposed by booking.com for transfer of monies. Or maybe booking.com only transfers monies at end of month. I do not know. The business letting the premises may not be headquartered in the UK. Could be in Utah or Delaware and managed by a trust in South Dakota.

I note that booking.com is headquartered in Amsterdam. Have not used them.

Electronic Funds Transfer, EFT, between accounts is standard practice in Australia and incurs no fees. E- Invoices are the normal practice with payment done by EFT. Physical cheques are no longer issued. The main issue with overseas transactions for me is Forex.

If all else fails seek help from your bank. That is what they are there for.

Regards Ron

DON"T go off the Booking.com platform or nothing will be protected and guaranteed. Don't ever go off any platform during a transaction.

Yes, bank transfers are very common here, but paying outside the Booking.com platform is not. Yes, we make bank transfers to pay our bills to known entities, but plenty of Europeans get cheated every summer just this way, too. There are TV segments, articles, but it still happens again and again.

If they won't be paid via the Booking website, there's a reason. Be sure to report this to Booking.com.

I’ve used booking.com many times, and always used a credit card.
Do not book this accommodation, it doesn’t sound right to me at all.

Bets has nailed it. Yes, a bank transfer is a very common method of payment in Europe to pay for all sorts of things from electricity bills to your insurance premium and many other things.

But on the other hand a bank transfer is not a payment method offered by Booking.com This means that the owners of the property want the OP to go outside the official booking.com platform. They may have several reasons for this; to avoid the high commission that booking.com is charging them, or because they are scammers. Either way, when you pay outside of the official platform, you lose all your rights and all your protection in case something isn’t right.

As somebody who is familiar with European banking I would not do it. I'm using booking quite often, but I would never book an apartment requesting this.

Booking.com used to be entirely an agency model, where payment was made directly to the supplier and not via them; might have been advance credit card or even cash on arrival. Increasingly they have become a retailer where they handle payment. Some properties are still sticking out on the agency model figuring it is cheaper for them to operate their own limited payment options than pay booking.com processing fees. Having said all that, if they only offer a payment method that has no consumer protection for the purchaser, even if legitimate I would be wary of them because of unforeseeable events. Especially beyond this being a deposit.

There's nothing unusual about international bank transfers - and not just in Europe either. You can do it online via your bank's web site or app and it will only take a few minutes. If your bank charges (mine doesn't for most countries, but some do), then Wise or Revolut are good options.

But as has been pointed out, once you've transferred the money, that's it - you're then reliant on the person you've transferred it to providing the service you've paid for, whereas when paying by credit card, banks can usually arrange a chargeback in cases of non-provision or insolvency.

So in summary, I would not use a bank transfer unless I was confident about the person I was sending the money to.

@Tassie Devil, European banks mainly use IBAN rather than SWIFT, and EFT is an Australian domestic system.

I’ve booked a lot of lodging through Booking.com and have never been asked to do a bank transfer. I wouldn’t pay outside of the Booking.com options. I did have a hotel ask me to cancel my Booking.com reservation and then book directly through their website….and this was the first hotel for my RS tour, arriving a couple of days early.

You have already had great advice from previous posters, so I won't repeat it.

London has hundreds (or thousands) of vacation rental listings, so I am unsure why you are trying to stick with this one, if the payment arrangements make you uncomfortable.
You may want to begin your search again and choose another apartment.

There are also a number of "apartment hotels" that have a front desk where you check in, plus a website for reservations and credit card payments that more resemble the website of a Hilton or a Premier Inn.

These apartment hotels are frequently mentioned here on the forum. You may feel more secure using one of them. If you want the names/websites of some of these, just ask, and we will all gladly give some suggestions.

I use bank transfers for all sorts of things as a matter of course here in England, but I'd run away from this one.

Being asked to go off the booking dot com system - red flag.

Being asked to use a system (bank transfer) with no way to get money back if a problem - red flag.

Being asked to send a bank transfer for a London property to somewhere in Munich - waving red flags, flashing red lights, gates down and a train coming through.

I would run away, run away fast. I may well be wrong, but this has all the bad smells of a scam.

I might well be wrong and the owner has excellent reasons for each of these things, but I'd rather be wrong than stung.