Littlepay, SkyBus launch ticketing solution

Consolidating their existing partnership, Littlepay, Masabi, and Mastercard Gateway developed a flexible and modular route to contactless payments in Australia. According to Littlepay’s officials, the deployment aims to demonstrate that collaborative partnerships can provide enhanced innovation and improved customer outcomes for public transport. In addition to the above-mentioned partners, the deployment was achieved through collaboration with Commonwealth Bank and Fujitsu. Skybus is part of Kinetic, a group that also includes Go Ahead, one of Littlepay’s customers in the UK.

Through its cloud-based, PCI-compliant platform, Littlepay accepts incoming card taps, integrates with payment schemes, and provides a full-service Open Payments solution for transportation. The company’s platform integrates with third-party transit back-office solutions, including Masabi’s Justride, enabling operators to allow cEMV acceptance without the complexity of a commissioned project.

Littlepay has been introducing contactless payments around the world with live deployments in the UK, Europe, North America, and Latin America. However, this is only their second deployment in Australia, with the launch of Regional NSW at the beginning of October 2023 being the first one for the company. Through these two deployments, Littlepay supports its objective of expanding its operations in the Asia Pacific region.

Considering that airport transfers are an essential tool for conveying passengers to their flights, reducing car journeys, and minimising disruptive congestion around airport road networks, the solution intends to provide a simplified and convenient payment experience for customers while they travel. Representatives stated that the solution also makes it more efficient for passengers to use the SkyBus service, while also enabling Skybus to deliver on its strategic and growth objectives. 

As a transit-focused payment company, Littlepay provides payment processing services for a contactless EMV ticketing solution. The company’s modular, API-based payments platform plugs-and-plays with pre-integrated Littlepay Ready validators, back offices, payment gateways, and acquiring banks, intending to offer transit agencies a flexible and fast route to contactless payment acceptance.

At the end of June 2023, Lisbon Metro, a Portugal-based transit system, partnered with Littlepay to enable contactless bank card payments. The collaboration allowed the transit agency to upgrade its payment infrastructure so that it better serves the needs of its customers. The payment method addressed to the riders of the Lisbon Metro was part of a larger modernisation effort that aimed to encourage the use of public transportation within the city.

Moreover, in April 2023, Littlepay integrated with American Express on its payment platform to offer riders contactless payments. Approximately 250 transit operators that leveraged Littlepay were set to be enabled to accept American Express. This move was intended to increase the number of transit systems where American Express Cardmembers had the option to tap to pay for public transport around the world.