Airline Bankruptcy

According to IATA rules, the card scheme has to offer reimbursement if a flight is not provided. This procedure applies to only those cardholders who cannot reclaim the cost of the goods or services that have not been supplied through a bonding authority, a travel insurance policy, or other applicable consumer protection scheme.

If the cardholder is declined reimbursement by the bonding authority, a travel insurance policy, or other applicable consumer protection scheme or receives no response within 30 days of their application, the cardholder may apply a chargeback request following the 30 days, or following confirmation that their application for reimbursement has been declined

Several flights may be affected by the closure, and as a result, several chargebacks need to be processed, possibly in a short amount of time. All that needs to be done is to provide the details of the flights and fill in the generic dispute form that will be provided (Nium will provide you with a report on flight details upon airline bankruptcy to expedite the process). The chargeback process then proceeds as per usual.

Nium has an automated internal system for processing chargebacks. Once the list of chargebacks is received, the Nium chargebacks team will run it through an internal system to prepare the documentation required to file the chargeback with the scheme. Nium will then send submit the batch to the scheme.

The issuer will endeavor to contact the scheme as soon as the client receives chargebacks. The submission length depends on the volume of chargebacks submitted by the client. However, this is usually expedited in case of airline bankruptcy. Please contact your Account Manager or the Support Team during the chargeback process for more definitive timelines.

Chargebacks are processed depending on departure date. This is in direct relation to the timeline for chargeback submission set out by the schemes. The closer the date of the chargeback, the higher the priority of submission.

These are outlined here for each scheme:

MasterCard (https://chargeback.com/mastercard-chargeback-time-limits/)

Visa (https://chargeback.com/visa-chargeback-time-limits/)

Clients will be credited with the chargeback amount anywhere up to 540 days, depending on the issuer.
As part of the process, Nium will closely follow all chargeback claims, and upon request from the client, give status updates on the claim.

The filing of a Dispute Form is part of the chargeback process defined by VISA and Mastercard. It is required for each and every transaction, however, in the case of an airline bankruptcy since the dispute form will be alike in each case, we will do much of the work for you. We would simply require one signed form, and an excel sheet with the details of each transaction. We then have a process to replicate the Dispute Form for each and every transaction.