Pure Holiday Homes to check landlords’ ID

Rising fraud in the online travel market has led to Pure Holiday Homes introducing identity checks on landlords renting out property through its site.

In an industry first, the agency is introducing ID verification solutions from GB Group to ensure that holiday home owners are genuine, thereby mitigating the risk for holidaymakers.

Sean Collins, CEO of Pure Holiday Homes, said: “Up until now companies have been treating the symptoms and not the actual cause when it comes to protecting consumers from online travel fraud, through additional services like travel insurance. Our aim is to take the risk away from the customer and tackle the route of the problem.”

When a home owner puts their property up for let via the site, their identity will be verified using GB Group’s URU solution. Based on the supplier’s ID3 technology, the identity management system is being integrated into Pure Holiday Homes’ website.

The company hopes the new checks will give holidaymakers greater peace of mind. In research it carried out among 1,396 consumers, more than half said identity checks would be a prerequisite for booking before transferring money to a home owner’s bank account. According to a recent survey by ABTA and GetSafeOnline.org, up to 30 per cent of consumers do not confirm the authenticity of a travel provider when they make a booking.

Recommended

Clicks and calls linked in marketing data integration

Marketing Week

Connecting offline data on prospects with online searches and enquiry phone calls is now enabled following a partnership between two tracking solutions vendors. Intellitracker has linked with Adtraka to provide an holistic view of prospect behaviour in response to PPC marketing activity.