Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1376560
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 23 MAY 2021 17 COMMERCIAL Contactless payment now available on entire Malta Public Transport bus fleet GETTING around Malta is be- coming easier as bus passengers can now use their contactless cards, smartphones or smart- watches to pay for their bus tick- ets, with the launch of a contact- less payment system on all 400 route buses operated by Malta Public Transport. For cities around the world, contactless transport has gone from a nice- to-have to a must-have in order to provide customers with safe and secure solutions through COVID-19 and beyond. With the enablement of contactless payments, local residents and tourists can worry less about carrying cash and queuing for tickets. Following a successful trial period on buses operating on busy routes, the contactless payment service has now been extended to all of the bus fleet, in a fully integrated system with on-board ticketing. This was made possible through the partnership of Malta Pub- lic Transport, Bank of Valletta and Visa. The contactless sys- tem offers passengers a new, efficient way of paying for their bus tickets, resulting in reduced boarding time and faster jour- neys. Malta Public Transport partnered with Bank of Vallet- ta and Visa to ensure fast and secure transactions built on a reliable payments infrastruc- ture. As the COVID-19 pan- demic shifted customer prefer- ence towards cashless options, the public transport company aimed to expand options to ca- ter for passengers who do not have a Tallinja Card. "Cashless payments are a fun- damental element in our cus- tomer experience strategy," said Konrad Pulé, Malta Public Transport General Manager, explaining that contactless ser- vices make passenger boarding much easier. "When we intro- duced the Tallinja Card in 2015 it was a first for Malta, and it quickly became the most pop- ular way to pay for your ticket. With the new contactless sys- tem on board our buses, those passengers who prefer to pay for individual tickets will also be able to experience quicker and more efficient boarding when travelling by bus." "Bank of Valletta is proud to be an important stakeholder in this project which will see public transportation mov- ing to digital," stated Kenneth Farrugia, Chief Retail Banking Officer at Bank of Valletta. "This is another significant and important step in the national digital transformation strate- gy which is equally aligned to the strategic direction that the Bank is currently taking for- ward. The demand for cash- less payment solutions across all service sectors continues to gain traction as more con- sumers recognise the conven- ience of contactless payments. The case is undoubtedly highly compelling in the public trans- portation space as it is evident- ly much easier to tap and pay in contactless mode rather than paying in cash. I am of the high conviction that commuters will quickly adapt to this fast and secure payment method, par- ticularly in the current scenar- io where society is increasingly shunning away from the usage of cash as a means of payment. So, whether it's with physical contactless cards, one's smart- phone or smartwatch, paying for a bus fare will truly be pay- on-the-go." "As cities across Europe start lifting Covid-19 restrictions, public transportation will be essential to ensure economic recovery." said David Farrugia, Visa Malta Country Manager. "Public transportation systems are crucial for people who re- ly on them to get to and from work every day. Consumers re- ly on them to access their local businesses and purchase their needs, while tourists use pub- lic transportation to get around the Islands. We hope the launch of contactless payment systems on the Malta Public Transport network will make the lives of residents and tourists that use contactless payments easier, simpler and safer." Ground-breaking 'zero commission' post Covid recovery initiative from Ryde THE tech-mobility market in Malta experienced a rapid boom up until early 2020, followed by a steep decline as the economy was hit by Covid. Couple with this, many mobility-app com- panies are no strangers to driver related issues such as working hours, accountability for VAT and wage related problems. Now, the current feeling in the market is of a good, steady growth in usage as people emerge from re- strictive conditions. Seeing increased usage, Ryde Technologies has decided to take a bold leap to improve both worker conditions and in- comes to help them get back to their feet in the shortest time possible with full transparency. This is being done by applying a ZERO COMMISSION rate to a number of drivers who are on-boarded now, for the next three months - arguably the busiest months as the be- ginning of a post-Covid tourist season starts emerging. This means Ryde drivers will take the full value of the Ryde mo- bility platform at no cost and applies to drivers with all vehi- cle types working from any lo- cation in Malta and Gozo. Commenting on the Zero Commission initiative, Kevin Vella, Director of Ryde Tech- nologies said: "We believe that the company is there to protect our people, and we have prov- en our resilience in doing so. Now it's time to go the extra mile in putting the driver first and help them and the indus- try recover. We call these early on boarders our A-Team! Only when our drivers are happy can we then ensure our passengers will be satisfied." The company also mentioned that after the partner-driver initiative, there will be a cam- paign to support passengers in a drive to speed up economic recovery and get people back to normal employment, their work commute or leisure ac- tivities. From its very inception, Ryde was built around state-of-the- art technology that has huge value and impressive capabili- ty. The company has always maintained that the value of this high-tech without great humans is exactly zero, with the founders always believed that Ryde should embody a 'well-being' business concept over a purely financial one. Ryde's combination of tech- nology and humans is what makes it a winning brand that can offer this service at the highest efficiency and lowest cost to passengers. Users will find an easy, seamless book- ing process that will encourage them to use Ryde over any oth- er form of transport. Find out more at https://ryde- malta.com/zerocommission/