Australia’s iconic SkyBus airport bus transfer service to enable passengers to simply tap their contactless bank card or mobile device when boarding.

Transit payments processing specialist, Littlepay announces its deployment of contactless payments on Australia’s award-winning airport bus service, SkyBus. For the initial roll-out, the new ticketing solution is available on SkyBus’s Hobart Airport-City route, giving passengers the flexibility to simply tap for rides, removing the need to purchase tickets before boarding.

“This is another example of how we’re continually innovating in how we can improve the ease and convenience of our services for passengers. It adds to other easy ways people can purchase SkyBus tickets, including via our website, the SkyBus app and our e-kiosks at departure points”

said Michael Sewards, co-CEO at SkyBus

Building on their existing partnership, Littlepay, Masabi and Mastercard Gateway were able to introduce a flexible and modular route to contactless payments in Australia.

“This deployment demonstrates that collaborative partnerships can deliver greater innovation and superior customer outcomes for public transport. We’ve collaborated with Masabi on a number of exciting projects and we are proud to see this relationship hit another milestone with Skybus.”

said Amin Shayan, CEO at Littlepay

This deployment has been achieved in collaboration with Masabi, Commonwealth Bank, Mastercard Gateway and Fujitsu. SkyBus is a part of the Kinetic family which also includes Go Ahead a significant Littlepay customer in the UK.

Littlepay’s cloud-based, PCI-compliant platform accepts incoming card taps, integrates with payments schemes and provides a full service open payments solution for transit. Littlepay’s modular platform integrates seamlessly with third party transit back office solutions such as Masabi’s Justride, allowing operators to quickly and easily “switch on” cEMV acceptance without the complexity of a bespoke project.

While the Melbourne-based PSP, Littlepay, has been introducing contactless open loop payments all over the globe with live deployments in the UK, Europe, North America and Latin America, this is only their second deployment in Australia. Their recent launch in Regional NSW and the present Skybus deployment marks a pivotal moment in Littlepay’s Asia Pacific global growth, showcasing their ability to meet the needs of the Australian market, ahead of their upcoming project in Canberra. 

“Airport transfers are an essential tool in safely and conveniently conveying passengers to their flights, reducing unnecessary car journeys and minimising disruptive congestion around often busy airport road networks. But no-one wants an additional complication on their way to the airport and by introducing cEMV, SkyBus is making journeys as easy as they can be,”

said Brian Zanghi, CEO at Masabi

“CBA is proud to support SkyBus in bringing innovation and efficiency to both domestic and international travellers seeking airport transfer services around the country. This solution will make it easier for arriving passengers to use the SkyBus service, and enable SkyBus to deliver on its strategic and growth ambitions.”

said Deborah Leerhsen, Executive General Manager Global Institutional Banking Coverage at CBA