5 Benefits of Account-based Ticketing in Public Transport

Account-based ticketing has revolutionized the transport sector in numerous ways. It eliminates the use of closed ticket systems and lessens the cost of issuing proprietary paper to passengers. What’s more? It allows for seamless movement without having to deal with the complexity of pre-purchasing.

With account-based ticketing, you can choose your preferred fare media when boarding or alighting the transit system. The system estimates the fare and processes the payment, and is associated with numerous benefits.

Here are the advantages of account-based ticketing in public transport:

1. Improved customer experience & Services

Account-based ticketing involves a single client account. It links customer information to a particular account or ID. This way, it’s easier for the end-user or support personnel to view or obtain the information.

Moreover, you don’t need to buy travel tickets when you have an account. All you need to do is tap or scan using a mobile barcode. You can also use tokens like contactless debit credit cards, smart cards, or a virtual EMV token. And this reduces the complexity of travel, and passengers can ride more comfortably.

2. Reduced need for card insurance

Account-based ticketing allows for the use of different tokens. For instance, these are a smartcard, virtual EMV token, or a barcode generated from your mobile phone. You can also use other cards that are compatible with the reader as ticket carrier media. With this system, you can use your preferred pass as you move. It’s very convenient and significantly reduces the need for car insurance for the scheme operator.

3. Better management of card networks

It’s easier to manage or expand the scheme’s sales network with account-based ticketing. And this is because the system doesn’t use dedicated hardware to embed data on the card. It allows for Back-end AI integrations to mobile applications and ECR/POS supermarket systems.

You can easily integrate or expand the sales network without the need for more advanced equipment. Moreover, you don’t require additional gadgets for reading or writing data on the cards.

4. Improved data management

With hybrid systems, it isn’t easy to synchronize data in real-time. As such, transport operators lack critical data on passenger transactions that can be used to validate transactions and inspections. But, account-based ticketing is an online system that provides adequate real-time data for operators. This provides an insight into the services offered and is useful for analytics and the betterment of customer service.

5. Reduced fares

With this ticketing method, you only tap and ride. The system associates the taps to your account and then calculates the fares based on the scans. There are reduced cases of fraud whereby operators in public transport charge exorbitant rates to passengers.

Travel agencies can also use the system to implement travel regulations enabling best-priced fare rates for riders. The system also offers discounted rates for continuing journeys, for instance, from subways to buses.

Final thoughts

Account-based ticketing benefits the transport sector in many ways. It reduces the quieting time for end-users and offers better to-up means and ticket sales. It also allows for more modes of payment that are cost-effective for scheme operators.