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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California Replaces System That Helped Link Concessionary Fares to Open-Loop Cards Following Review by State Agencies

Card at terminal-Monetery-Salinas Transit

California transit officials have relaunched their senior discount verification program after shutting it down for six months, during which multiple state agencies conducted a security review, Mobility Payments has learned. According to one agency, scalability of the original system was a problem. […]

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Exclusive: Group of Small Transit Agencies Confirms Plans to Roll Out Open-Loop Payments Under California Program

A group of rural transit agencies in far Northern California are in the process of signing contracts with vendors to roll out open-loop payments under the state-backed Cal-ITP program, perhaps the first agencies to confirm they are contracting with vendors beyond the pilot stage, Mobility Payments has learned. […]

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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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California Open-Loop Program Chief: Transit Agencies Should Stop Thinking They Need to Create a ‘Separate Currency’

Gillian Gillett, manager for the California Integrated Mobility program in the state Department of Transportation, once observed that 97% of Californians never even think about using public transit. “I mean, if we were a business, we would be out of business,” she sighed. […]

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