Consumers increasingly expect seamless online transactions, presenting businesses with the dual challenge of enhancing customer experiences while simultaneously combating sophisticated fraud schemes. Finding the right technology partner can make all the difference.
At Sift, we’ve built our platform on the principle of securing digital trust while enhancing business outcomes—enabling companies to fight fraud, grow revenue, and most importantly, foster enduring relationships with their customers. Our recent partnership with Alaska Airlines exemplifies this vision in action, as they selected Sift to prevent payment fraud, streamline chargeback management, and ensure a frictionless customer journey.
Alaska Airlines is no stranger to innovation. Ranked as the best airline in 2024 by WalletHub, Alaska has long prioritized customer experience as its differentiator in a highly competitive industry. But with rising rates of fraud targeting the travel sector, even the most forward-thinking organizations can face challenges in keeping bad actors at bay. That’s where Sift comes in.
Why Fraudsters Target Travel
As travel continues to recover post-pandemic, the resurgence of online bookings has not gone unnoticed by fraudsters. Our Fraud Industry Benchmarking Resource (FIBR) reveals that online travel and lodging have the highest payment fraud attack rate (5.2%) across the industries we protect. The travel industry is a prime target for fraudsters, and companies need robust defenses in order to fight back.
Fraudsters are more sophisticated today, aided by tools like AI to create highly convincing scams. But as they evolve, so too must our defenses. The travel industry is a high-value target not just because of the financial stakes, but because of the personal data involved. A single compromised booking can lead to a domino effect of additional fraud, identity theft, and reputational damage.
For Alaska Airlines and other industry leaders, the stakes are higher than ever. With millions of passengers booking flights online every day, airlines need a solution that can operate at scale, adapt to ever-changing threat landscapes, and—most importantly—preserve the customer experience. The choice to partner with Sift allows Alaska Airlines to address all of these challenges with one platform.
The Battle Between Friction and Flow
Fraud isn’t just an operational nuisance—it’s a direct threat to business growth. Worse still, in industries like travel, the balancing act between preventing fraud and ensuring a seamless customer experience is precarious.
Businesses shouldn’t have to choose between growth and security. Too often, businesses introduce friction into the customer journey out of fear—fear of fraud, chargebacks, and lost revenue. But fear isn’t a business strategy, and friction isn’t a solution.
Through our partnership, Alaska Airlines is showing the travel industry what it means to embrace growth with confidence. They’re not just preventing fraud—they’re enhancing their customer experience, automating tedious processes, and reducing the hidden costs of fraud.
Driving Growth with AI-Powered Solutions
As AI continues to reshape industries, the nature of fraud is evolving too. Sift is constantly innovating to stay ahead of these threats, helping our customers anticipate and prevent fraud before it impacts their business. We’re proud to partner with trailblazers like Alaska Airlines who share our vision of a digital world where trust is the foundation of success.
For Alaska Airlines, this transformation has been immediate. They’ve eliminated the cumbersome manual review processes that previously bogged down their fraud team, allowing them to focus on delivering the world-class experience that travelers expect. The Sift Global Data Network, which processes more than 1 trillion events annually, provides Alaska Airlines with unparalleled insight into global fraud patterns, providing a level of defense that traditional systems simply can’t match.
Turning Chargeback Pains into Competitive Advantage
Chargebacks have long been the bane of digital businesses, and airlines are no exception. The process of managing chargebacks is time-consuming and costly—especially when companies lack the data to effectively represent their case. Alaska Airlines was no stranger to this pain. Chargebacks not only caused significant operational drag but also negatively impacted customer satisfaction.
Through Sift, Alaska Airlines has streamlined their chargeback management process. One standout capability of our platform is the ability to automatically include custom data, like flight manifest information, into chargeback disputes. This contextual data is key to winning chargebacks and reducing costly losses. With Sift, Alaska Airlines now handles disputes more effectively, winning more cases and freeing up valuable time for their fraud teams to focus on high-priority tasks.
This win-win solution enables Alaska Airlines to maintain both operational efficiency and an excellent customer experience—without the friction that often accompanies fraud prevention efforts. In an industry where every touchpoint matters, Alaska Airlines is proving that trust can be a competitive advantage.
Charting the Course for Digital Trust
Alaska Airlines isn’t alone in their pursuit of frictionless fraud prevention. Companies across industries—from e-commerce to financial services to on-demand services—are recognizing the power of AI to enhance trust and security.
Our work with Alaska Airlines exemplifies how forward-thinking companies use AI to prevent fraud and turn security into a growth enabler. This partnership marks a pivotal moment in the travel and transportation industry, setting a new industry standard by aligning fraud prevention with customer experience. By leveraging AI, Alaska Airlines safeguards its customers and delivers a frictionless digital experience. We’re excited about this partnership and its implications for the travel industry, proving that trust powered by AI is the foundation for fearless growth in 2024 and beyond.
To see more travel and transportation data and trends, check out FIBR, the Fraud Industry Benchmarking Resource powered by Sift.