NFC TIMES Exclusive Insight – London transit authority Transport for London is proposing to extend an agreement with U.S.-based fare collection system vendor Cubic Transportation Systems to license the authority’s technology used in its pioneering contactless open-loop payments system.
Transport for London, or TfL, and Cubic in 2016 signed a five-year, £15 million (US$19.7 million) licensing deal for Cubic to adapt TfL’s EMV contactless back-office software for use in other cities globally where it was bidding on or implementing new fare collection systems. TfL earned the maximum £15 million in licensing fees after only two years, thanks in part to a more than $500 million contract Cubic won last year to build a new fare-collection system for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in New York that will enable customers to pay for rides with contactless credit or debit cards and bank card credentials on NFC devices.
Cubic had exclusive rights to adapt TfL’s software for use in New York, although the deal was nonexclusive elsewhere. And since making the agreement with TfL, Cubic has also announced contracts for large fare-collection system projects in Boston, San Francisco, Miami and Brisbane, Australia.
