A few years ago, travelers of the tube and other London mass transit were given the ability to pay their fares via debit and credit cards in addition to the traditional tickets and closed user group cards. In the time since, surrounding UK areas have been rushing to implement their own credit and debit card payment options — especially contactless EMV. Additionally, in the United States, many cities and municipalities have also been pursuing new forms of electronic payments. For ISVs serving the transportation industry that includes subways, buses, and rail, there’s a real opportunity present to incorporate electronic payments.
The closed group cards that most transportation authorities traditionally use are great and will be used for the foreseeable future, but do have some limitations. They carry overhead, require administration, and are not the most accessible to visitors unfamiliar with the area and user cards.
Using London as an example, we’ve seen the benefits of incorporating credit and debit cards as a secondary form of payment. Including credit and debit payments make public transport more easily accessible to tourists. Also, in heavily populated areas, buses have difficulty staying on schedule. Accepting contactless electronic payments increases the speed in which customers can board the buses and, therefore, helps keep them on schedule. Finally, apart from these tangible operator benefits, since London has implemented the payment change, customers in the UK now have that same payment expectation everywhere they go, thus forcing the surrounding areas to catch up.
It’s no wonder there’s now a race to see who can get contactless payments up and running next. However, in addition to the technological issues facing municipalities, there’s also a drive to address interoperability which would enable fares to span across borders, operators, and different modes of transport. To the transportation-focused ISVs and municipalities who aren’t payments experts and yet are pursuing contactless payments, it’s a daunting task that could take months or years to complete.
UK-based Reading Buses spent three years trying to work with a payment partner that lacked the EMV and certification experience required to get a solution built, certified, and rolled out.
Fortunately, there is a way to bypass delays and headaches associated with integrating contactless payments into one’s transportation software. Eventually, Reading Buses found Creditcall and within a few months had an approved pilot and some weeks later could fully roll out a certified contactless solution.
Whereas transportation-focused ISVs are good at building software for mass transit, Creditcall is good at building payment solutions. The U.S. and UK-based payment company has a strong history in contactless payments, a 100-percent first-time EMV certification record, and experience in the transportation industry.
Make no mistake, customers in Europe and the U.S. now expect debit and credit payment options when traveling. The opportunity to address this need is present today. With the right payment partner, ISVs and municipalities can turn a contactless payment initiative into a reality quickly or easily.
Liz Gibson is head of Payment Services with Creditcall Corp.
