Sabre Direct Pay & Chargebacks911 Partner to Streamline Travel Chargeback Management

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Sabre Direct Pay, a specialised payments arm of Sabre Corporation, has unveiled a cutting-edge service for managing chargebacks designed to demystify and accelerate the dispute resolution process for travel companies worldwide. This innovative offering empowers travel providers to handle chargeback disputes more effectively, while optimising internal workflows and boosting success rates across both issuing and acquiring payment channels.

PR Newswire reports that crafted through a strategic partnership with Chargebacks911, the service delivers a game-changing approach to the notoriously convoluted chargeback landscape, which disparate systems, multiple logins, tedious manual inputs, and cumbersome technical setups have long plagued. Easily connecting with Sabre Direct Pay, it consolidates all chargeback tasks into a single, easy-to-use platform designed for travel, reducing waste and allowing for a greater focus on essential business activities.

For years, the travel sector has grappled with disjointed and unreliable dispute processes. Issuers often enforce unique formatting rules, evidence demands, and deadlines, which can lead to confusion and lower dispute success rates. Sabre Direct Pay’s new service tackles these hurdles head-on by automating dispute generation, customising submissions to match each issuer’s criteria, and channelling everything through a unified dashboard.

This robust solution enables travel firms to manage disputes effortlessly, without needing to juggle separate accounts or build custom integrations, while providing real-time visibility into case statuses. Ultimately, it promises higher win rates, faster resolution times, and enhanced transparency, all of which contribute to stronger financial outcomes and measurable revenue recovery.

As the world’s premier chargeback management expert, Chargebacks911 serves as the backbone of this new Sabre Direct Pay service, infusing it with sophisticated technology that crafts personalised evidence packages, automates compliance with issuer mandates, and monitors progress in real time. This setup drives superior efficiency and shields travel revenues from unnecessary losses.

Monica Eaton, CEO of Chargebacks911, highlighted the sector-specific pain points: “Chargebacks in travel are exceptionally intricate, given the high-stakes bookings and unpredictable delivery schedules. Many providers struggle with outdated tools. Our platform automates these workflows and deploys targeted evidence tactics, boosting efficiency and fortifying bottom lines,” she stated.

According to Sabre.com, this chargeback service marks a significant extension of a vital footprint in travel payments innovation. The platform has already pioneered simplifications in financial operations via key alliances, such as Pay by Bank with Trustly across Europe, swift international payouts through TerraPay, and virtual card programmes alongside Revolut, Sunrate, and WEX.

With this integrated system, Sabre Direct Pay is resolving a persistent issue in the travel industry. It equips providers to navigate disputes more efficiently, unify operations, and exert greater control over outcomes. By using automation and submissions that match what issuers need, companies can improve their chances of winning disputes and reduce the time it takes to process

Positioned as a leader in refining travel financials amid shifting payment dynamics, Sabre Direct Pay’s latest service is poised to redefine dispute management—making it simpler, quicker, and more transparent from start to finish.

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In Nigeria, there has been a notable surge in chargeback incidents within the travel and tourism sectors, particularly amplified during peak holiday periods like “Detty December”, when international visitors, including returning Nigerians (often dubbed “IJGBs” or “I Just Got Backs”), flock to the country for festivities. 

Recent reports highlight how these visitors, after indulging in high-value spending on accommodations, tours, and experiences, initiate disputes with their foreign banks upon returning home, leading to a wave of chargeback claims that have alarmed local businesses. 

For instance, in early 2025, multiple entrepreneurs and vendors raised concerns over this trend, with some estimating significant losses from fraudulent or “friendly fraud” disputes. Broader factors fuelling this uptick include the rapid growth of digital payments in Nigeria’s economy, vulnerabilities in cross-border transactions, and economic pressures that encourage consumers to reclaim funds after making a purchase. 

Payment giants like Interswitch have reported staggering losses, such as ₦30 billion in 2023 alone, from fraudulent chargebacks, underscoring a systemic issue exacerbated by inadequate dispute tools and rising online fraud rates. This surge mirrors global projections of a 24% increase in chargebacks by 2028; however, in Nigeria, it’s compounded by regulatory challenges, such as the Central Bank of Nigeria’s dollar repatriation policies, and collaborations with foreign agents that sometimes enable illicit practices.

This rise in chargebacks could have a profound impact on Africa’s and Nigeria’s tourism sectors, which are pivotal to economic growth, contributing significantly to GDP through foreign exchange and job creation. Financially, travel agencies, hotels, and tour operators face direct revenue erosion from reversed payments, coupled with hefty bank penalties, elevated processing fees, and potential blocklisting by payment processors, which could limit their access to merchant accounts. For small and medium-sized businesses in African tourism, spending time and resources to fight claims puts a strain on their operations, reducing their already limited profits and making it harder to invest in essential areas such as infrastructure or marketing.  

In Nigeria, specifically, where tourism is rebounding post-pandemic with initiatives like Visa’s digital payment solutions, persistent chargebacks risk damaging merchant reputations, fostering distrust among international travellers, and inflating costs that are passed on to consumers, potentially stifling visitor numbers. 

Across Africa, where fintech is supporting the digital shift in tourism, unchecked chargebacks threaten the continent’s ambitions for seamless e-commerce, leading to higher fraud rates in high-risk industries such as travel and hospitality. However, tools like automated management platforms could help reduce these problems by increasing success rates and efficiency, which would strengthen the industry and support steady growth in economies that rely on tourism.

Dive deeper into cutting-edge travel tech and fintech innovations—check out our latest stories and articles for more insights that keep you ahead!

 

FAQs

1. What is chargeback management in the travel industry?  

Chargeback management involves handling customer disputes over payments, such as reversed credit card charges due to issues like cancellations or dissatisfaction. In travel, it’s crucial for managing high-value bookings and ensuring providers recover funds efficiently.

2. How do the Sabre Direct Pay and Chargebacks911 partnerships work?

The partnership integrates Chargebacks911’s advanced technology into Sabre Direct Pay’s platform, automating dispute creation, customising evidence to issuer standards, and providing a unified dashboard for real-time tracking, thereby eliminating manual processes and the need for separate systems.

3. What benefits does this service offer to travel companies?

It helps travel companies win more disputes, saves time, clarifies processes, and brings everything together, which protects their finances and makes their work easier without requiring complicated setups or multiple logins.

4. Why are chargebacks a big issue in travel?  

Travel involves high-stakes, variable-timeline bookings that are prone to disputes due to cancellations, fraud, or buyer remorse. Fragmented issuer rules and outdated systems complicate resolution, resulting in financial losses and inefficiencies.

5. How does this product fit into Sabre Direct Pay’s broader offerings?

It expands Sabre’s ecosystem, which includes Pay by Bank with Trustly, cross-border payouts via TerraPay, and virtual cards with partners like Revolut. This creates a comprehensive payments and dispute solution tailored for the evolving travel sector.