Google Calendar Taps Stripe for Paid Appointment Scheduling

Google is offering businesses a way to schedule paid appointments through its Calendar tool.

The company’s Workspace team has partnered with payments company Stripe to offer this function, according to a Monday (July 10) blog post.

With this change, appointment providers can connect their Stripe account to Calendar when creating an appointment schedule and set a price. Businesses can also set up a new Stripe account from Google Calendar, per the post.

“Requiring payment upfront can help small business owners reduce no-shows and grow their business further,” Google said in the post. “Additionally, this feature enables you to manage your time and payments in a simple and seamless manner.”

Google will redirect bookers to Stripe and does not process or store payment info or charge platform fees, according to the post. Google can’t help with payment or refund issues, which need to be handled by providers and bookers through Stripe.

PYMNTS examined the rise of self-service models for the payment experience earlier this month in a conversation with Worldline Consulting Services Global Head of Travel Solutions Laurie Gablehouse.

“We’re seeing the shift towards booking direct instead of using an aggregator because people want to control the aspects of what they are going to do and how their money is being spent,” she told PYMNTS.

No matter the payment strategy, simplicity is crucial, said Gablehouse. Consumers should be able to go online, find the brand they want, and when they are ready, book and pay. This experience should be seamless, whether the searching or booking happens online, by phone or via digital wallets.

And these days, small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) can’t afford to lose out on revenue, as it’s becoming harder than ever to access working capital and other financing solutions due to macro pressures.

Ironically, SMBs need this funding more than ever because of those same pressures just to keep their operations going.

“Nearly half of small businesses are planning to increase their utilization of alternative funding for their company in the next 12 months,” Scott Steinberg, chief product officer and chief operating officer at data intelligence platform Enigma Technologies, told PYMNTS this month.