• The new tap-to-pay system will simplify ticketing for tourists – the city has on average one million visitors a year, including 200,000 attracted by the Cannes Film Festival 
• Littlepay and Kuba are providing a modular open loop payments system, using Littlepay’s payments platform and Kuba’s card readers and AFC back office

Littlepay, which provides payments infrastructure for transport and mobility, today announces the public launch of contactless EMV (cEMV) ticketing on the Palm Bus network in Cannes, France. The Cannes Lérins Agglomération supports this modernisation of the ticketing system, in collaboration with Palm Bus, Kuba, Littlepay and La Banque Postale.

From today, riders across the network of over 200 buses will be able to pay for trips with a contactless bank card (Visa, Mastercard) or using their smartphone (Apple Pay, Google Pay or Samsung Pay). The City sees this fuss-free transit payment experience, which doesn’t require knowledge of local ticketing systems, as a vital improvement for both residents and the many tourists that visit the city during its annual film festival and peak Summer season.

Littlepay has integrated Kuba’s Vix CP6500 validator and AFC back office to its payments platform, so that cEMV can be added to a range of ticketing options Kuba already provides for Palm Bus, including mobile QR codes and closed-loop smart cards. 

Frederic Marandon, DGA Mobility of the Cannes pays de Lérins Agglomération, says: “The deployment of the open payment solution in our region is the result of a long-standing collaboration between our agglomération, our transport company Palm Bus and our technology partner Kuba. The addition of this service, with the support of Littlepay, responds to our mission to simplify access to public transport for our regular and occasional customers.”

Minimising fare evasion

Kuba has used Littlepay’s Inspect API to develop a fare inspection app that will be used to deter fare evasion. This is installed on NFC compatible Android mobile devices, which Palm Bus’ fare inspection staff can use to check passengers’ cards against a list of known taps. 

The app removes the need for expensive, PCI-compliant fare inspection hardware to establish whether passengers are travelling with a valid cEMV ‘token’ for travel. 

Ticketing and payments excellence

Littlepay provides a modular payments infrastructure that allows integrations with a range of ticketing systems and acquiring banks. The partnership with Kuba is an excellent example of how APIs can be used to integrate with any compatible payment reader and back office, providing cEMV processing within a wider ticketing ecosystem.

“The deployment of our KubaPay solution, integrating open payment in partnership with Littlepay, on the Palm Bus transport network of the urban community of Cannes Pays de Lérins, facilitates access to public transport. Our solution, based around the single validator, is the result of our know-how, expertise and a remarkable collaborative effort. We are particularly proud of the addition of this reference which has undoubtedly contributed to new successes to come.” Tarik Dinane Managing Director Kuba France.

Amin Shayan, CEO of Littlepay, said: “It’s been fantastic to develop a contactless system in partnership with Kuba and Palm Bus that co-exists seamlessly with other payment options. This location is also a great place to see how creating a universal payment experience with tap-to-pay can help cities make travel simpler for overseas visitors. Increasingly, transit users understand they can use their bank card as their ticket to ride, wherever they are.”

Palm Bus network in numbers

4,542,609 kilometres travelled by the entire fleet in 2021 (+13.7% compared to 2020)

2,325,261 tickets sold on board by drivers in 2021 (+29.4% compared to 2020)

7,614 annual commercial subscribers in 2021 (+9.9% compared to 2020)

[Photo credit: S-F/Shutterstock.com]

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