account-based ticketing

Account-based ticketing (ABT) is a fare-collection system where information about the right to travel is held in a back-office in the form of a digital account. Travelers can use various media (NFC and bank cards, QR codes and other tokens) to unlock the account for use in a vehicle.

Main functionalities

• Fare management. Electronic fare management is a system that allows to automate the ticket pricing, purchase and payment. A large variety of fare structures are supported to cater the customer needs.
• Fare concession management. There are always some passenger groups in public transport, who travel with discounted fares. Such concession/entitlement fares can be applied both manually and automatically in the system. The latter requires integrations with various databases, but offers the smoothest experience for managing the entitlements. There are also built-in tools for different counterparts (schools, universities, government agencies etc.) to apply concession status markers to customer accounts.
• Ticket validation. Contactless ticket validation helps minimizing queues when boarding public transport vehicles. Validators accept a large variety of tokens, including NFC travel cards, QR-codes, contactless bank cards and others.
• Sales channels. The solution is flexible and enables the integration of different modern sales channels.

Key benefits
Account-based ticketing provides the essential foundation for combining contactless ticketing and payments into a single technology platform and making it flexible. We help to eliminate the need for a driver to sell tickets or interact with a passenger as everything can be done at the validator. It also helps to increase passenger safety by removing the need for handling cash onboard a vehicle.

There is no legacy element or technology restrictions and it’s fully scalable and adaptable to future industry needs and requirements. It offers interoperability which enables the use of the same media in various transport networks if an open-loop global standard (like EMV) is implemented.

There are lower setup and operational costs – no need for heavy infrastructure and reduced costs for cash handling. Possibility to accept other tokens than the ones, issued by the transit operator.

Better service for the customer – the system meets the growing consumer demand for same convenient ways to pay for their travels, as for other daily expenses – using their contactless payment card or mobile device. There’s also easier integration with 3rd parties – MaaS setups, sharing economy, Park & Ride etc.

Main target groups

• Public Transport Authorities (PTA) and Public Transport Operators (PTO).