SpiceJet is a low cost airline operating on the globally validated low cost model while providing travellers a safe, reliable and comfortable journey. Attractive pricing, innovative route planning and various ticketing services are being initiated by the Airline to gain miaximum eyeballs in this era of cut-throat competition.

SpiceJet covers 17 destinations across India and is now planning to add more sectors. It has 18 new technology equipped fleets to ensure highest standards in safety and operational efficiency.

In order to minimise the growing online frauds and charge back payments, SpiceJet has implemented Decision Manager, an automated risk management solution from CyberSource.

Minimising loss due to online fraud

With the increasing penetration of Internet, most passengers book their tickets online and low cost carriers are also trying their best to sell tickets through websites in order to cut down costs. However, this kind of ticket booking is vulnerable to various kinds of fraud.

In cases of fraud in credit card transactions, the Airline has to pay back to the concerned bank. SpiceJet has tied up with more than 20 travel portals for the ticket reservation process. Hence, it was imperative to deploy a strong security policy to control the growing cases of online fraud.

Says Virender Pal, CTO, SpiceJet, “In the aviation industry, the charge back hits percentage is around 8-9% while at SpiceJet it was less than 1%. But we want to minimise it to zero. Around 90% of our online transactions come through credit cards and it is difficult to keep track of each and every card used in the transaction process. Though we don’t have any role in the transaction process, we have to pay to the banks and thereby incur losses."

In partnership with CyberSource

SpiceJet evaluated various solutions from vendors like Quator. CyberSource was zeroed down due to the company's experience in global markets and the scalability of its products.

“The solution from CyberSource is highly customizable and was easily integrated into our system. We can also update as per our business requirements. The revenue model is followed on the basis of per transaction. This is the best cost effective solution for us and it is our constant endeavour to keep our expenditures at minimum, while providing maximum satisfaction to our customers," observes Pal.

Noticeable reduction in charge backs

Each and every online transaction is now processed through Decision Manager. Decision Manager examines each transaction and determines whether the online order should be accepted, reviewed or rejected. This takes place in real-time, ensuring that the customer experience is not impacted. In addition, the rules can be updated at any time by the airline via a simple interface, allowing SpiceJet to continually upgrade its strategies as fraudsters change their tactics.

Opines Pal, “We have noticed that the charge backs have reduced tremendously and we have also been adjudged the best fraud management company in the aviation sector. The deployment of Decision Manager is helping us to automatically screen transactions for fraud, reduce the burden of manual intervention as we handle more than 10,000 transactions per day.”

SpiceJet has also tied up with BillDesk to provide customers the option of purchasing and paying for their tickets through their Internet Banking Account. By embarking on such initiatives, the low-cost carrier plans to bring down incidents of online fraud to zero.