Chargebacks in travel are up 50% compared to 2019 due to an increase in travel disruption caused by Covid-19. This new partnership allows for fully outsourced service to automate chargeback management using Amadeus’ rich travel and payment information.
A chargeback is the formal process initiated when a cardholder disputes a payment – often leading to the cardholder being reimbursed directly by their issuing bank, which then obtains the funds from the merchant. Since the disruption seen during the Covid-19 pandemic, the travel industry has witnessed a significant rise in chargebacks. One in every eight chargebacks issued are now related to travel purchases.
Given the rise in disputes, some travel companies lack the resource and data insights to handle the process efficiently, with many disputes automatically resulting in favor of the cardholder, often without challenge. That’s why Amadeus is launching Amadeus Chargeback Management, powered by Chargebacks911, which provides airlines with an automated and fully outsourced service to better manage chargebacks at scale.
Airlines can now see a detailed overview of chargebacks by accessing the existing Xchange Payment Platform (XPP). Increased automation is achieved with Amadeus’ unique travel information, which provides a clear view of whether a traveler received the service in question. This is combined with detailed payment information to help airlines automate their response to each dispute, reducing instances of fraud and the overall cost of managing chargebacks.
“Unfortunately, if passengers miss a flight or if their plans change, some decide to raise an illegitimate chargeback,” says Chargebacks911 Founder Monica Eaton. “Periods of recent disruption have increased awareness of chargebacks amongst travelers, and the ease with which disputes can be raised via mobile banking apps mean high volumes are a significant issue. Our partnership with Amadeus lifts the burden, so airlines can focus on their core business.”
“Travel companies told us chargebacks have increased by 50% on average since the pandemic,” added Damian Alonso, Head of Platform and Partnerships at Amadeus. “Addressing the issue is a high priority for 70% of firms we surveyed, and it’s easy to see why. It is estimated fraudulent disputes cost airlines upwards of $1B annually. By combining our travel and payment information with Chargeback 911’s specialist service, the industry can automatically spot and efficiently resolve disputes.”
The Amadeus Xchange Payment platform is used by more than 100 airlines to analyze, manage and optimize their complex global payment flows, across multiple sales channels. In line with its strategy to provide a one-stop-shop payments platform to the travel industry, Amadeus is progressively adding new in-house and partner developed payments capabilities to XPP. XPP users can now easily access fintech services like Buy Now Pay Later, multi-currency pricing, alternative payment method acceptance and now, specialized chargeback management.
