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The big payments processor Elavon Inc. has joined the movement to convert mass transit in the United States to contactless technology for fare transactions. The Atlanta-based company on Tuesday launched its Mass Transit Payments platform, aimed at both public and private agencies and with gateway and acquiring services provided by Cybersource, a unit of Visa Inc.
Elavon, a unit of U.S. Bancorp, said it is launching the service commercially following “extended” pilots in California. The company has also participated in other transit programs in Europe.
Elavon said the rationale for the new service rests at least in part on consumer expectations for contactless payments, particularly in public amenities such as mass transit, following the Covid pandemic. The company cites research from Visa indicating 91% of respondents in a survey said they “expect” contactless-payment options on transit systems, while “roughly half” said they prefer these options.
Elavon stresses the fact that its service will process payments from any contactless card or mobile device, rather than requiring riders to use cards specific to particular transit agencies. This feature, the company says, will open the service to agencies that have not been able to support contactless systems.
“As we start traveling again, contactless tap-to-go payments make paying for tickets as convenient and efficient as paying for your morning coffee on the go in rush hour or zooming through the fast-checkout line at the grocery store,” said Pari Sawant, global chief product officer at Elavon, in a statement. “Mass Transit Payments is a product built to make transactions frictionless and secure for both transit agencies and their riders so everyone can focus on getting where they need to go.”
Mass-transit agencies around the world have adopted contactless-payment technology in a movement that started even before the onset of the pandemic, though consumer and operator fears of infection helped lend momentum to the trend. Agencies in smaller cities, too, have started to install the technology. The most recent example is that of Sault Ste. Marie, Canada, where Cubic Corp. said in August it is installing its platform in buses serving the town of 72,000 persons. Cubic is a specialist in payments technology for transit systems.
