Airbnb is testing long-awaited payment splitting feature

We all probably know the pain of booking a trip online for a group of friends. One person pays for the whole lot and then it is an endless wait to get payments from other parties. Airbnb now wants to fix this pain-point with a payment splitting feature.

First spotted by The Next Web, Airbnb is testing a feature with a small group of listings that allows payments to be split up with up to 16 individuals beforehand.

Tim Rathschmidt, an Airbnb spokesperson told TNW, "We’re currently testing a way to split the cost of a trip on the Airbnb platform. This is a small, initial pilot — our goal is to make it even easier to use Airbnb to travel with friends and family."

The feature, which is one of the most requested function by users, is built on the flexible payment infrastructure Airbnb introduced back in April, which lets users book a stay without paying everything upfront.

According to the report, the feature will enable a user to divide the amount and pay his/her share up front to book the rental space. All others in the travel group will have only three days to pay their share. In case, your friends ditch you, you’ll have to settle the remaining amount to keep the booking intact.

Airbnb has been rolling out several updates this year to make the service more streamlined and easier to use — like standardizing the check-in process with host-supplied photos and text instructions. While the feature is only available in select places now, the company plans to expand it to more listings later this year.