NFC TIMES Exclusive Insight – Bilbobus, which operates bus service for the city of Bilbao, in northern Spain’s Basque region, says it launched its recent trial of contactless open-loop fare collection to reduce cash payments by customers and decrease their wait times to board buses.
The project, while small, is the first result of a partnership between software-as-a-service ticketing provider Masabi and EMV transit payments gateway Littlepay. The deal, which the companies announced last June, seeks to package technology for transit agencies, which the companies say will make it quicker and potentially less expensive to roll out contactless EMV payments.
The six-month Bilbobus trial launched on only one bus route and a total of seven buses. But a Littlepay spokeswoman told NFC Times that at least one other transit agency plans to launch what Masabi and Littlepay call their “cEMV-in a-Box” technology over the next six months. She declined to name the agency. The technology combines Masabi-supplied validators and readers with connections to the Littlepay payments gateway. The gateway, in turn, connects to a pre-integrated acquirer when the rider taps to pay a fare.
