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...

Tampa Bay Agencies Launch Open Loop as Fare-Payments Option for Customers

Contactless payment with phone, St. Petersburg, Fla.
Three transit agencies serving the Tampa Bay region, a major metropolitan area in Florida, have introduced contactless open-loop payments, offering an alternative to the region’s closed-loop card and app, as well as cash and tickets and passes. [...]

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Budapest Transit Agency Confirms Mastercard Will Pay for Open-Loop Pilot but Won’t Say How Much

Budapest shuttle bus
Mastercard is footing the bill for a large share of the cost to roll out and operate an open-loop payments pilot for Budapest transit agency BKK, but the agency won’t say how much the payments scheme is paying, Mobility Payments has learned. [...]

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In-Depth: Canadian Transit Agencies See Low Adoption of Open-Loop Payments

SkyTrain-Vancouver
Despite a high-profile launch recently of domestic debit card acceptance in Canada and more open-loop rollouts there, Canadian transit agencies say they have no plans to promote open-loop payments over their close-loop cards. [...]

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Contractor for Fast-Track Open-Loop Procurement in Barcelona Gets Pressure over Key Technology Supplier

Barcelona Metro sign
The main contractor for Barcelona’s open-loop payments project has chosen a local company over Brazil-based Planeta Informática to implement a key technology for the rollout, after apparently receiving pressure to hire a local subcontractor, sources told...
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