Transport Ticketing Blog

Masabi and Worldpay from FIS Bring Open Payments Revolution to Public Transit

Written by James Gooch | 16-Oct-2023 17:16:06

The collaboration delivers Fully-Certified, Pre-Integrated Contactless EMV payments solution, with an easy upgrade path to support all rider groups.

 

London, UK & Jacksonville, Fla. Monday  16th October 2023 – Masabi, the transit ticketing technology company, has today announced a new collaboration with FIS® (NYSE: FIS), a global leader in financial services technology. The collaboration brings together the award-winning fare payment platform provider  and leading global acquirer, Worldpay from FIS, to deliver a robust, pre-integrated and pre-certified EMV payments solution that is easy to implement and operate, providing a cost-effective and reliable solution for transit agencies of all sizes.

 

Working together, Worldpay and Masabi are leveraging the power of Open Payments to create an EMV solution that transit agencies can easily deploy, delivering a convenient experience designed to allow riders to simply turn up, tap, and travel. Passengers can use their contactless payment card or mobile device to simply tap a validator as they board, without the need to purchase a ticket or select their fare before traveling. With a unique off-the-shelf configuration including pre-integrated validators, Level 3 EMV pre-certification, and a Merchant of Record service, this solution simplifies Open Payment system adoption.

 

For transit agencies, Open Payments is just the beginning and once live the solution can be easily upgraded to support all rider groups using Masabi’s ‘EMV-First’ approach. Agencies can start by enabling Open Payments but then upgrade to other modules of Masabi’s Account-Based Ticketing platform with passengers able to use a mobile app or smart card to travel, providing the same experience as an open payments solution but able to support all riders groups whether they are banked, underbanked, prefer to use cash, require a discount or don’t own a smartphone.

 

“Launching an Open Payments system can feel complex, expensive and intimidating, and we want to provide something that eases the burden for agencies, making it easy to implement and operate, while providing a wider solution that is not just for people with bank accounts, but that supports all rider groups, delivered with equity at its core,” said Brian Zanghi, CEO at Masabi. “Open Payments are transforming the way that people interact with urban transit networks, promoting a more seamless and interconnected urban mobility landscape. The combination of Worldpay’s technology and Masabi’s Open Platform brings together the two pioneers of payments solutions for transit to deliver a cost-effective, highly customizable off-the-shelf offering to agencies of all sizes, opening a new era of possibilities in fare payments.”

 

"As transit agencies continue to innovate to meet changing consumer payment behaviour, Open Payments stand out as a user-friendly solution that drives operational efficiency, reduces friction, and improves the overall travel experience for riders,” said Thomas Helldorff, Head of Merchant Solutions Travel & Airlines, FIS. “By working with Masabi, we will deliver simple, scalable and secure EMV payments solutions to transit agencies of all sizes, looking to offer the best passenger experience.”