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What is Multi-Operator Capping?

4th March, 2025, 11:00–12:00
Through multi-operator capping we allow two or more transit merchants with MTT variable-fare or flat-fare enabled to apply multi-operator capping products. Passenger pays no more than a capped rate across all participating operators within a defined multi-operator scheme or locale.
Transcript

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Hi, I’m Steven from Littlepay

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and today I’ll be going through

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how littlepay supports multi operator capping.

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Multi operator. Capping or mock is where two

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or more transport operators with their own

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separate open loop systems collaborate

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to offer passengers a payment cap when they travel

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across focus operators.

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There are a few points to note though your existing system

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doesn’t have to change.

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You do have to have data sharing agreements

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of all members of the mock scheme.

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But don’t worry, we already have tried

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and tested templates for this

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for your data protection officers.

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In terms of PCI exposure, there is no exposure

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of the sensitive EMV card data

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to any system other than little paste level one

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P-C-I-D-S-S certified PSP.

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So you should have no additional PCI concerns when it comes

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to calculating revenue.

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Apportionment Littlepay provides a full suite of reports

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to allow apportionment and reconciliation between operators

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for sales refunds or debts.

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Finally, if you’re an existing Littlepay customer,

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this functionality is available to you at no extra cost.

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This solution is both a broker and device agnostic.

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You can even bring your own PSP.

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An integration that might be required is a very light touch.

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Now, in truth, this is all

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so much better explained with an example.

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So here it goes. Here we have four different operators

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and to keep things simple, let’s say each has a single fare

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of one pound 80 for a single journey.

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Uh, but there’s a daily multi operator cap of four pounds.

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What’s the user experience

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and who gets paid what at the end of the day

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when the passeng initially travels on the green bus,

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the standard single fare of one point 80 is sent to

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Littlepay for multi operator aggregation

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when the partial van travels on the blue bus.

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And number 180 sent a little pay

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to pay aggregated when the passeng van travels on the pink

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tram and therefore one point 80 Fair sent a little pay.

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But now the daily mock cap of four pound has been reached.

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So the fares adjusted to only 40 pence.

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And when the travels on the red train,

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the standard single fares again sent a littlepay.

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But the more cap has already been reached

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and the fares adjusted to zero.

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And on the left hand pan in here, you can see what is sent

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to each relevant operator’s acquirer to be settled.

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Now this settlement

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and a portionment model is based on a

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where it lies approach,

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but there are other models, for example,

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where the lead operator collects all the revenue.

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The point is that with a little pay solution,

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you get all the reports necessary

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to facilitate whatever model works

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for your multi operator agreement.

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So how does this all look to the transit provider?

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Well, basically each operator maintains their own

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separate processing rules.

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And it is only when a passenger uses multiple operators

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within the moc scheme.

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But data is shared in A

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PCI and GDP are compliant manner so

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that the operator can see the relevant trip

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and the cap has been applied.

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The multi operator broker service takes care

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of generating the reports you need for revenue,

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apportionment, and reconciliation at the

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cadence you require.

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And the passenger can use the multi operator traveler

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portal, see all their trips across the schemes,

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participating transit providers.

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Now you may say,

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this all sounds very good, but is it proven?

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And the answer is a very firm yes.

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If we ask you now, go

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and take a look at some of the case studies

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where we’ve deployed this.

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You’ll see what I mean.

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Leicester was the first to go live in March, 2022

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with three operators,

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and Cornwall has been live since July, 2022

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with five participating operators.

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In the last case here, north Wales has 27

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operators across more than 200 routes,

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and they have been live since February, 2023.

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So this is not just theory

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and slideware, this is a real solution delivering benefits

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to those operators today.

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And in truth, there’s another half dozen

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or so deployments live at this moment with more yet to come.

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So let’s wrap us up with summary of some

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of the key features I’ve mentioned here.

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It’s available now at no extra cost

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for existing littlepay customers.

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There are no changes required to your devices

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if you’re not a little pay customer.

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It is still possible to participate

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with a light touch integration to our broker service,

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and there’s no exposure to the sensitive EMV card data.

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So no additional PCI burden on you.

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And the data sharing parameters are entirely configurable

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to best suit your moc schemes needs.

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If you want to know more,

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please visit the littlepay website

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or contact us to speak to a representative.

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Thank you.

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Stephen McSpadden
Senior Solutions Consultant
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