UK-based transport technology provider UrbanThings has partnered with Littlepay to introduce mobile payments on the Newport Bus and Ipswich Buses apps. Through this collaboration, transport operators receive the option to offer Card Not Present (CNP) mobile payments in their passenger apps, leveraging Littlepay as their Payment Service Provider (PSP).

Considering the current payment landscape, bus operators are making significant progress towards providing the benefits of the physical pass to passengers using contactless. UrbanThings – Littlepay partnership objective UrbanThings and Littlepay’s collaboration enables a new mobile payment experience that allows customers to acquire tickets online and link their bank card to their passenger account. The feature intends to provide riders with the flexibility to pay for their trip using contactless when boarding the bus or via the app before they travel while also having transparency and visibility over their travel history and access to support their journeys. By joining forces, the two companies developed a capability that enables users to view their contactless payment history and capping in the app.

UrbanThings and Littlepay intend to continue to work together to develop additional features for passenger apps, providing improved customer experience, supporting the use of public transportation, and helping reduce carbon emissions. According to Littlepay’s officials, the two companies plan to expand this development to multiple other cities around the UK in the upcoming months. UrbanThings and Littlepay intend to evolve their partnership to offer customers continuous improvement and advances.

Littlepay’s recent developments Being a transit-focused payment provider, Littlepay offers payment processing at the core of a contactless EMV ticketing solution. Its modular, API-based payment platform plugs and plays with pre-integrated Littlepay Ready validators, back offices, payment gateways, and acquiring banks, providing transit agencies with flexible contactless payment acceptance. In recent months, the company entered multiple partnerships and announced several developments.

At the beginning of November 2023, Littlepay announced that riders using the AEMUS network of busses in Pery can make contactless payments with a bank card or digital wallet. The company was involved in the launch of open-loop payments in Lima, Peru. During the same period, Littlepay launched contactless payments on Australia’s SkyBus, with the ticketing solution being available on the Hobart Airport-City route for the initial deployment. The company intended to provide customers with the flexibility to tap for rides, eliminating the need to purchase tickets before boarding.

Moreover, the service came as an addition to the already present methods of how passengers could purchase SkyBus tickets, including through the company’s website, the SkyBus app, and the e-kiosks at departure points. At the end of June 2023, Lisbon Metro collaborated with Littlepay to provide contactless bank card payments and improve the overall passenger experience. Through this, the transit agency upgraded the payment infrastructure so that it better suited the needs and requirements of its customers. The payment method was part of a larger modernisation effort that intended to support the use of public transportation within Lisbon.

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