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Airline industry steps up fight against payment fraud
Airline body IATA is cracking down on payment fraud against airlines and travel agents.
IATA says fraud costs the industry around $858 million a year.
While the majority (around $639 million) is borne by airlines, the rest is borne by others in the chain, including travel agents.
In partnership with Ypsilon Net, IATA is now offering its fraud detection system, IATA Argus, to airlines and travel agents.
"IATA is committed to helping the industry fight fraud," said Aleks Popovich, IATA’s senior vice president financial and distribution services.
The system can access global distribution systems and can detect suspicious transactions as early as the booking request stage.
It then flags them up or can even cancel them as appropriate.
It can also notify the agent or airline of a suspicious booking, and automatically take action to void, suspend or cancel a ticket.
"You cannot segregate fraud occurring on airline direct channels from fraud generated through travel agency or online travel agency channels," said Hans-Joachim Klenz, CEO of Ypsilon Net.
"IATA Argus combines ease of implementation and cost efficiency in a system that protects all channels effectively and provides full automation."
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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