The operator from the United Kingdom has announced the start of fares paid through smartphone transactions.
In the United Kingdom, a regional bus operator has now announced that it will be accepting mobile payments to let riders pay for their fares using the Barclay’s Pingit app, using their smartphones.
The bus company, First West Yorkshire, is among the first in the country to enable Pingit fares.
First West Yorkshire, has made an announcement that has revealed that it will be beginning the use of the mobile payments service in order to provide riders with an additional transaction method. The service that they have chosen is Pingit, the app that was initially introduced by Barclays back in 2012. The transportation industries in the United Kingdom have not yet broadly adopted smartphone based payments, making this local operator among the first to take that first step into this sphere.
The choice to use mobile payments was meant to be a reflection of the company’s intention to keep up with what consumers want.
According to the First West Yorkshire managing director, Paul Matthews, “Our partnership with Barclays puts First at the forefront of bus ticketing technology and reflects our commitment to grasp ever more innovative ways to make bus travel better, easier and more convenient.”
Though this bus operator is among the first in the U.K. transportation industry to make this move into appealing to consumers with mobile devices, the rest of the world has been catching on at an increasing rate. Some have predicted that this will be an important trend in areas such as travel and in public transportation. Mobile check-ins, for instance, are becoming increasingly commonplace among airlines in airports.
Some cities around the world have also been piloting programs that have been testing the use of smartphone based ticketing for their bus and subway systems. Among the key challenges has been choosing technology that would be compatible with the largest number of mobile devices as there has yet to be a standard within the very young smartphone based transaction industry.
From First West Yorkshire’s point of view, the mobile payments ticketing service has been chosen to give riders a quick, easy, and convenient way to use their smartphones to purchase and store their fares.
The brief from the department explained that “After an internal review of DOF’s current payment channels and of recent developments in contemporary payment technologies.” It also went on to say that the department feels that emerging tech could offer a way for drivers to quickly and conveniently pay their parking tickets by way of smartphone, tablet, or other forms of 