Masabi, an mTicketing technology provider for the transport sector, has unveiled a proof-of-concept Android app, dubbed ‘Smart Card Buddy Beta,’ that can read and display data from ITSO-based transport ticketing smart cards (view press release). The app is the first to come out of the Masabi Beta Labs programme and paves the way for smart card ticket validation with smartphone hardware. The company aims to eventually enable passengers to buy rail tickets or top-up credit for their smart card on their handset, rather than at a station terminal. Masabi claims the solution can also be amended for use with NFC contactless technology as well as ITSO (the UK national standard for smart ticketing).
“Masabi’s Smart card Buddy Beta has the potential to bridge two rapidly growing but separate technologies – mobile phones and smart cards. This proof of concept app shows that the new generation of NFC enabled smartphones can operate as ticket readers thereby letting passengers and inspectors check what’s on a smart card without the need for specialist hardware. In the future, users could even buy tickets or credit for their smart card using their phone,” said Tom Godber, Masabi CTO.
Masabi’s mobile ticketing technology allows users to search for train times and buy tickets which can then be picked up at stations, displayed as an on-screen barcode or via in-built NFC. The company recently won its first contract outside the UK with the Massachusetts Bay Transport Authority (MBTA) which is set to launch in Q4.
Whitepapers
Related reading
Central banks best suited to issue digital currencies
By Aaran Fronda A recent report by the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum (OMFIF) said that central banks rather than private ... read more
Instant payments: innovations inbound for corporates
In 2020, instant payments look set to continue their current trajectory to become the biggest trend in payments. While these schemes already offer numerous benefits to corporates, leveraging innovations such as APIs and request to pay will go some way to unlocking their full potential, argues Michael Knetsch
Obstacles exist for banks to meet ECB’s instant payments goal
The cost of joining instant payment platforms will be one of many hurdles banks and payment services providers must overcome to meet ... read more
Banks must be aware of “biases” in data used to train ML models
Financial institutions need to be conscious of biases in the historical data that is being used to train machine learning (ML) models, ... read more