Creditcall powers contactless rollout on Reading buses

Travellers in and around Reading can now use latest wave-and-pay technology when boarding Reading Buses, speeding up the boarding process without the need to carry cash or advanced ticket purchase.

BRISTOL, 27 February, 2017 - Creditcall, the omni-channel Payment Gateway and EMV Kernel provider, together with its partners Ticketer, Gemini 2000, and AIB Merchant Services, today announced to have provided its payments services to enable EMV contactless card acceptance as well as Apple Pay and Android Pay on around 180 buses in Reading and surrounding area. This will form the UK’s first town-wide contactless bus network outside of London which means all residents in the borough will be served by a bus accepting bank cards.

Consumers don’t just wave-and-pay when they buy a coffee or newspaper, they use their contactless cards when shopping for groceries, on the high street, and, increasingly during their commute.

Recent figures from The UK Cards Association show that 25 percent of all card transactions are now contactless payments. Consumers don’t just wave-and-pay when they buy a coffee or newspaper, they use their contactless cards when shopping for groceries, on the high street, and, increasingly during their commute. Stressing the growing importance of contactless cards and the efforts being made by the UK passenger transport industry, Melanie Johnson, Chair of The UK Cards Association, said: “Following the great success of contactless ticketing in London, the cards industry has worked with transport operators to explore its introduction across the UK.”

“After bringing contactless payments to buses in our home town of Bristol, we are excited to have worked closely with Ticketer, Gemini 2000, and AIB Merchant Services to roll out contactless payments on Reading Buses.” - Liz Gibson, Head of Payment Services at Creditcall

“By waving a contactless card, smartphone or wearable to purchase a bus ticket, simplifies and speeds up the boarding process and services for passengers while making the journey for bus drivers more secure” said Liz Gibson, Head of Payment Services at Creditcall. “After bringing contactless payments to buses in our home town of Bristol, we are excited to have worked closely with Ticketer, Gemini 2000, and AIB Merchant Services to roll out contactless payments on Reading Buses.”

“Once again we are delighted to bring a number of firsts to Reading. We have been working hard and investing in upgraded ticketing systems, with our supplier Ticketer and payment services provider Creditcall, to get contactless launched across our entire Reading town network – something that we believe we are the first to do outside of London” said Martijn Gilbert, CEO at Reading Buses.

The new contactless payment option for bus travel, operated by Reading Buses, will be available on around 180 buses in and around the Berkshire town. The payment service is provided by Creditcall, using ChipDNA Direct to connect Ticketer’s contactless transport ticketing solution and the Gemini 2000’s contactless smart card reader Orbit SAM, with AIB Merchant Services for payment processing. Bus drivers will be able to accept contactless bank cards, Apple Pay, Android Pay, ENCTS concessionary passes and other ITSO smartcards making the solution ideal for transport operators.

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About Reading Buses

Reading Buses operate around 180 buses on routes in and around Greater Reading providing over 66,000 customer journeys each day connecting residential, business, retail and onward rail links across the region.

They are a major employer in the town with 550 employees and are widely recognised as being one of the UK’s leading bus operators for customer service, innovation and sustainable transport solutions.

They are also national award winners, including being crowned best in class Top Shire Operator at the UK Bus Awards five years in a row.

For more information, please visit http://www.reading-buses.co.uk/

About Creditcall

Creditcall provides the tools to enable secure payment acceptance in-store, self-service, online and mobile. From retail and hospitality, to parking, vending, transportation or charity applications, Creditcall’s omni-channel Payment Gateway and EMV Kernels are at the very heart of its partners' businesses, enabling them to focus on what they do best.

Creditcall is an EMVCo Business and Technical Associate, a PCI SSC Participating Organization, a Mastercard accredited MEPSA company and member of the U.S. Payments Forum with offices in Bristol, UK and New York, USA.

For more information, please visit www.creditcall.com or engage with us on Twitter @Creditcall.

Media contacts

Ingrid Anusic
Head of Marketing, Creditcall
ingrid.anusic@creditcall.com
+44 (0)117 930 4455

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