Littlepay and Kuba have launched an open loop fare collection system across Ginko's network of more than 200 buses and trams in the French city of Besançon.
Littlepay says the system allows passengers to tap a contactless payment method onto a Kuba (Vix CP6500) payment reader as they board.
According to Littlepay, the solution makes fare payments simpler and boarding faster for Besançon’s public transport users, who make up to 30 million trips each year.
Other partners involved in the deployment include Keolis Besançon and postal bank La Banque Postale.
Littlepay’s payments platform receives tap data from the KubaPay solution and processes payments, using La Banque Postale for acquiring services. Payments can be made using a Visa, Mastercard or co-branded Carte Bancaires credit or debit card, or a contactless-enabled mobile wallet.
Paul Griffin, global head of commercial at Littlepay, says: “It’s been great to work with the city of Besançon and our partners, introducing a tap to ride system. We’re confident this will significantly improve the experience of using public transport and motivate more people to leave their cars at home.”
Additionally, Ginko and Kuba used Littlepay’s Inspect application programming interfaces (API) to develop an inspection app allowing staff to carry out fare inspections, checking cards against a list of known taps.