The company has missed self-imposed deadlines, most recently on July 24, but no money was received by hotels.

The problem affects those travellers who make the full payment through Booking.com or by bank transfer.

Payments by virtual cards are being made without interruption.

Many people in online forums are envisioning dire scenarios, such as the collapse of Booking.com, and are afraid that they will never get money owed to them.

Booking.com says it notified all its partners in mid-June that it had updated its financial electronic system during July 1-11.

The company said it expects everything to be normal from Thursday.