Viator
Background
Viator, a global leader in providing travelers with access to a marketplace of over 395,000 tours and activities, offers unparalleled flexibility and last-minute availability. This allows customers to discover and book experiences both near and far, ensuring they spend more time making memories and less time searching. However, as the marketplace grew, Viator faced increasing challenges related to fraud and chargebacks, which led the company to seek an optimized solution for managing these risks.
The Challenge
As Viator’s Fraud Systems and Analytics team began implementing Accertify’s fraud management and chargeback management solutions, they discovered that their existing ruleset was unoptimized. This inefficiency hindered the effectiveness of their chargeback system, leaving the company vulnerable to potential fraud and reducing its ability to recover from chargebacks.
One of Viator’s primary challenges was to streamline the ruleset to ensure that legitimate transactions were processed without disruption while minimizing fraud. Additionally, Viator required a solution that offered the flexibility to adjust quickly to evolving market conditions and fraud patterns. The team also sought to leverage machine learning and community data to optimize fraud detection through more intelligent, adaptive rulesets.
The Solution
To address these challenges, Viator partnered closely with Accertify’s Professional Services team. Together, they embarked on a multi-phase implementation of a new fraud management and chargeback strategy. This included:
- Conducting regular reviews of the rulesets and making necessary adjustments to optimize fraud detection.
- Implementing quality control testing in shadow mode to monitor performance and ensure accuracy before going live.
- Revising and streamlining existing “reject transaction” rules to reduce unnecessary declines of legitimate purchases.
- Developing a new scoring process that leveraged machine learning to enhance fraud detection and optimize chargeback defense strategies.
Throughout the implementation, the teams held regular meetings to track progress and address any issues. This close collaboration allowed for continuous refinement of the system and adjustments to meet changing fraud requirements.
Customer Details
Viator, founded in 1995 and headquartered in San Francisco, CA, is a global leader in the travel and tourism industry, offering an online marketplace with over 395,000 tours, activities, and travel experiences. Catering to a diverse customer base that includes families, solo travelers, and adventure seekers, Viator provides flexibility and last-minute availability, allowing travelers to discover and book unique experiences worldwide.
Results
After a few months of collaborative work, the new system was fully implemented, and Viator saw immediate and substantial improvements:
- 90% increase in chargeback win rates: By utilizing Accertify’s Chargeback Management solution, Viator significantly improved its ability to defend against chargebacks, raising win rates from an already improved baseline.
- 75% reduction in fraud: The introduction of a new ruleset and machine learning-driven fraud detection substantially reduced fraud across the platform.
- 60% reduction in internal resources dedicated to chargeback management: The streamlined process enabled Viator to reallocate staff and focus on other strategic initiatives, cutting down on manual labor associated with chargeback disputes.
Additionally, Viator experienced an 11% increase in chargeback win rates early in the process and was able to dramatically reduce the manual resources dedicated to chargeback management by 60%.