A ‘tap to pay’ open payment system launched by urban mobility specialist Flowbird has surpassed 100,000 transactions. The specialist deployed the payment system on the T2C transport network in Clermont Ferrand, a city in the centre of France, on September 2022.
The Flowbird open payments system was introduced following investment in ticketing on the T2C network, aimed at creating faster, easier payment experiences. By speeding up boarding and journey times, it is driving Clermont Ferrand’s mission to motivate more people to use public transport instead of private cars. The 100,000 transaction milestone is especially impressive, given Clermont Ferrand has a population of only 141,000.
Flowbird developed the ticketing and payment solution in partnership with the Syndicat Mixte des Transports en Commun de l’Agglomération Clermontoise (SMTC-AC). With the solution, Clermont Ferrand looks to claim a leading role in the modernisation of transport ticketing in France. Despite its smaller size, it joins the ranks of around 30 agencies that have been the first to pioneer open payments on transport.
François Rage, CEO at SMTC-AC, said: “We are very pleased to see that our passengers have taken up this contactless technology. It is part of our goal to make travelling easier so that using our public transport system is even more attractive.”
Flowbird helping tourists ‘unlock everything that cities have to offer’
Flowbird has nine live deployments to date, in France, Canada, the UK and Australia, including a national roll-out in Northern Ireland. The firm has also planned further projects.
Cities can work with Flowbird to facilitate acceptance of all types of transport payments:
- open payments (with a bank card or mobile wallet)
- closed-loop payments (with a stored value transit smartcard)
- mobile and online payments
- cash
Flowbird’s cloud-based payment platform is PCI DSS compliant and meets the requirements of card schemes’ rules for transit, providing a secure environment for payment acceptance, processing, as well as collection.
The payments foundation built by Flowbird is an important part of its ambition to lead the development of Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS). MaaS encompasses the integration of multimodal transport, payments and a wider marketplace of services into one single sign-on application.
Nicolas Dardonville, ticketing sales director at Flowbird, discussed the firm’s ambitions for France. Dardonville explained: “Our white-label MaaS app, live in Monaco under the name Monapass, takes the connected city experience to the next level. The principality deployed open payments and the Flowbird MaaS app simultaneously, to simplify end-to-end journey planning, transport and mobility payments, and ticket booking for local attractions.
“We can imagine a similar app being the natural next step for cities like Clermont Ferrand, where there is a lively program of cultural and sporting events. With one app, one login, tourists can unlock everything that cities have to offer.”
