Travel business Amadeus is teaming up with Chargeback911 to help airlines deal with a recent rise in the number of payment disputes initiated by passengers.
A chargeback is the formal process in which a bank or credit card holder disputes a payment, which Amadeus and Chargeback911 said "often" sees the claimant reimbursed "without a challenge".
Amid the disruption to travel caused by pandemic restrictions, the number of such travel-related chargebacks jumped 50% since 2019, according to Amadeus and Chargeback911, who said "some travel companies lack the resource and data insights to handle the process efficiently".
In response, Amadeus and Chargeback911 said they are launching Amadeus Chargeback Management, which would offer airlines "an automated and fully outsourced service to better manage chargebacks at scale".
"Unfortunately, if passengers miss a flight or if their plans change, some decide to raise an illegitimate chargeback", said Monica Eaton, founder of Chargeback911.
Amadeus estimates fraudulent chargebacks cost the airline industry US$1 billion a year.