Barcelona Transit Authority Seeks Quick Rollout of Open-Loop Payments Following Long Delays in Launch of Close-Loop Card

Barcelona-bus-open-loop

The Metropolitan Transport Authority, or ATM, in Barcelona has issued a request for proposal for technology to help it to quickly roll out open-loop payments across the metro, train, bus and tram networks in and around Spain’s second largest city. […]

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Central Bank in Latin American Country Drives Nationwide Rollout of Open Loop; Can It Serve as a Model Elsewhere?

Costa Rica bus

In a first for Latin America and perhaps one of the only projects of its kind in the world, the Central Bank of Costa Rica is building a nationwide infrastructure for open-loop transit payments, as it seeks to ultimately eliminate cash on board its buses and trains. […]

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Exclusive: Vancouver Transit Authority has Lucrative Deal with Debit Scheme Interac to Enable and Promote Interac Brand for Open-Loop Payments

Interac card at Compass terminal

Vancouver transit authority TransLink signed a deal with Canadian debit scheme Interac last year that would pay TransLink a total of CA$2.75 million (US$2.1 million) for enabling customers to tap Interac cards and credentials to pay for fares and for promoting the Interac brand, 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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