Transit Agency: High Bank Card Fees Would Limit Open-Loop Rollouts in U.S.

SacRT trains visa

A top revenue manager for Sacramento Regional Transit, the agency serving California’s capital city, said he believes there won’t be widespread rollouts of open-loop payments in California or throughout the U.S. until payments networks and banks reduce fees for agencies to accept debit and credit cards. […]

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Visa Quietly Lowers Interchange for Transit Agencies in California but Scope of Reductions Limited So Far

Card at terminal, Monterey-Salinas Transit

Visa has quietly introduced a new interchange category for transit agencies in California, Mobility Payments has learned. If rolled out nationally and across more card types, the changes could substantially reduce the high fees that agencies pay to accept credit and debit cards for fares. […]

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Exclusive: Los Angeles City Transit Agency Plans Open-Loop Payments Pilot; To Target Underbanked and Unbanked

LADOT Commuter Express bus

The Los Angeles Department of Transportation, or LADOT, the city-owned transit agency that runs fixed-route and commuter bus service in and around the city, plans to launch a trial of open-loop payments as part of the California Integrated Travel Project, Mobility Payments has learned. […]

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State of California Seeks to Change Way Transit Agencies Procure Fare Systems

Card at terminal-Monetery-Salinas Transit

As the California Department of Transportation, or Caltrans, sees it, the state’s more than 300 local transit agencies offer a fragmented and inefficient mix of fare collection systems–a fact it says discourages many potential riders among the state’s nearly 40 million residents from taking public transit. […]

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Open-Loop Payments Trial at Small California Transit Agency Could Lead to More Rollouts in Giant State

California public bus agency Monterey-Salinas Transit last month officially launched a six-month “demonstration” project to pilot contactless open-loop payments. While the agency is very small, providing only around 3,500 rides per day last year, the launch holds much greater significance. […]

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In-Depth: Open Loop ‘Mobility Marketplace’ Sees Few Orders or Launches During First Year; Backers Contend More Projects in Pipeline

Card tapped at terminal-California

California’s bold experiment into helping transit agencies procure technology to launch open-loop payments is off to a slow start, with only eight agencies–most very small–placing orders with state-vetted vendors through December, Mobility Payments has learned. […]

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Think Tank: Widespread Move to Open-Loop Payments in U.S. Remains ‘Elusive;’ High Interchange Partly to Blame

Bus validator

Open-loop payments can improve the customer experience, helping transit agencies to win back customers in a post-pandemic world, while also reducing cash-handling costs and speeding up boarding times, according to a new report from the Brookings Institution, a major think tank in the U.S. […]

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