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Costs remain a key topic for transit agencies in the U.S. and elsewhere considering rolling out open-loop payments. Three supporters of the technology discuss the topic with Mobility Payments.
For a rider that taps a debit card or a wallet loaded with a debit card to pay a $2 fare, the agency is on the hook for almost 23 cents under published rates. Most of that are fixed fees. That’s nearly 11.5% of that $2 fare and that doesn’t include acquiring fees, network assessment fees or gateway or PSP fees. There might be lower rates available, if you know whom to ask.
• HSL (Helsinki)
• LA Metro (Los Angeles)
• MTA (New York)
• Littlepay
• Worldpay
• Visa
• Mastercard
• Metro Transit (Minnesota)
• WMATA (Washington, D.C.)
A top official with Helsinki transport agency HSL made headlines over this past weekend, Aug. 31, when he was quoted as actually discouraging customers from using contactless open-loop payments when the agency launches the long-delayed service.
That’s according to Helsingin Sanomat, the main newspaper in the Finnish capital, which reported that the agency’s deputy CEO is instead steering riders toward HSL’s own mobile app because of higher costs for accepting debit and credit cards.
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