For More Connected Cities: Mastercard Powers New Mobility Services with Kisio

While technology has transformed how people search and pay for transportation around a city, multi-modal journeys often require separate tickets, delivering a frustrating experience for riders. According to a recent survey, 57 percent of urban residents expect their cities to offer one account covering all local types of transportation.

Joining Forces with Kisio

At Smart Cities NY, Mastercard and Kisio, a subsidiary of Keolis, announced plans to transform how millions of locals and guests get around cities. By embedding Mastercard’s payment and security technology into Kisio’s trip planning and ticketing capabilities, transportation providers will be able to help their passengers book their entire trip in one app.

Miguel Gamiño Jr., head of global cities at Mastercard: “Working with over 150 cities around the world, we have improved the transit experience for residents and visitors while delivering efficiencies for operators. Together with Kisio and our other City Possible partners, we’re ready to take on the next mobility challenge, co-creating ‘Mobility-as-a-Service’ options that make tech truly work for people.”

Pacôme Lesage, chief executive officer at Kisio Digital: “As passengers get ever more out of their smart devices, they also expect more from transport operators and authorities regarding digital services. By partnering with Mastercard, we are able to deliver on this expectations in new and exciting ways, bringing to market a fully-functional platform for multimodal transport apps.”

Developing Mobility as a Service with Cities

Kisio has recently joined City Possible, an initiative pioneered by Mastercard to foster new forms of collaboration for more inclusive and sustainable cities. Over the coming months, Mastercard and Kisio will invite and select cities from the global City Possible network to co-create and pilot a Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) platform that fully integrates with local transit authorities.

Kisio’s first MaaS deployment will be in the Netherlands where a pilot will launch this summer. Today, Kisio’s Navitia mobility platform is already being used by over 50 local transportation and technology providers worldwide, including in France, the United States and Canada.

Supporting a Growing Eco-System

Today’s announcement builds on the pioneering work Mastercard has done over the past five years, partnering with mass transit agencies, car manufacturers, travel companies and other mobility providers, enabling better, more connected experiences for people traveling to and within global cities.

Recent examples:

United States:

• Transit: Mastercard’s different transit solutions are currently in place in 16 cities and new solutions are expected to be live in more than 20 cities over the next five years. Over the coming months, New York City will begin to open up ‘tap-and-go” payments on its subway and bus systems.
• MaaS: Masabi, a mobile ticketing company in which Mastercard holds a minority investment, is enabling Uber customers to book tickets for trains and buses through the ride-hailing app.

UK:

• Transit: In London, 55 percent of all Tube and rail pay-as-you-go journeys are now regularly made using contactless payment cards or digital devices, with cardholders representing over 100 countries.
• MaaS: In London, Mastercard is partnering with CityMapper to offer commuters different subscription models for transit, bike and ride-hailing services within the city.

Australia:

• Transit: After a successful trial with Mastercard, commuters and tourists in Sydney can ‘tap and go’ their way across all of the city’s ferries and light railways since last year.
• MaaS: Transport for New South Wales (TfNSW) is working with Tranzer, a Mastercard Start Path company, to pilot a multi-modal service as part of the Future Transport Digital Accelerator.