EMT Valencia Launches Cashless Mobile Ticketing Solution with Partners Masabi, Mastercard and BBVA
Partnership will improve public transport safety and accessibility and see Valencia become first city in Spain to end on-board cash payments
London, August, 11, 2020 – Masabi, the company bringing Fare Payments-as-a-Service to public transport, today announced that it has launched the EMTicket mobile ticketing app for EMT Valencia, working in conjunction with partners Mastercard and BBVA. The new app offers an upgrade to current ticketing options by making it touch-free and safe for passengers to purchase and display tickets directly on their smartphones. EMTicket is now available for download from Google Play and the Apple App Store.
The introduction of EMTicket will see Valencia become the first city in Spain to phase out cash payments in favour of contactless payment options, providing passengers with a Covid-safe way to pay and ride public transport and help speed up journey times. The multilingual EMTicket app removes the need for passengers to carry cash or to physically interact with ticketing infrastructure. Once purchased in app, passengers simply activate tickets on their mobile device and show them on screen to the driver when boarding EMT Valencia’s services.
EMT Valencia will also benefit from the constantly expanding features and functionality of Masabi’s Justride, the leading Fare-Payments-as-a-Service platform used by more than 80 public transit agencies and operators across 11 countries. Justride also provides all users of the platform an upgrade path to a complete and fully functional Account-Based Ticketing (ABT) system, enabling Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS). As part of this deployment Justride will be using Mastercard Payment Gateway Services to enable safe and secure digital payments with acquiring bank services supplied by BBVA.
“This new app will not only help to modernize our services, but also offer EMT Valencia’s passengers a convenient and immediate way to purchase tickets,” said Josep Enric García Alemany, Managing Director of EMT Valencia. “We are excited to be deploying Masabi’s market-leading mobile ticketing platform to allow our passengers to manage their entire transit experience from a single app anytime, anywhere, and to be the first city in Spain to introduce an entirely cash-free onboarding service.”
“As one of Spain’s leading providers of payment solutions including mobile ticketing, BBVA is a natural choice to partner with Mastercard and Masabi and together make the transit experience easier and safer for all Valencians. We are committed to providing uncomplicated solutions which can improve people’s day-to-day lives, and EMTicket is a great example of this” said Carlos Rodríguez, Regional Director of BBVA.
“This initiative is clear example of Mastercard’s commitment to make cities more efficient and more sustainable – but most importantly – safe and convenient for the people who live in and visit them. We’re working with partners like Masabi across the urban mobility ecosystem to help cities deliver simple and convenient no-touch transit experiences using the payment method that riders already carry with them,” said Paloma Real, General Manager, of Mastercard Spain. “We are delighted to form part of this initiative that puts Mastercard technology at the heart of city infrastructure to improve daily experiences for the residents and visitors of the city of Valencia.”
“In light of Covid-19, provision of contactless and cashless payment options has become essential to maintaining confidence in businesses,” said Brian Zanghi, CEO of Masabi. “For public transit, this means it is not enough just to make services accessible and convenient, every aspect of the journey has to be Covid-safe – and this includes ticketing and payment. We are excited to partner with EMT Valencia, BBVA and Mastercard to power the EMTicket app, helping to build a safe and seamless public transport ecosystem across Valencia.”
About Masabi
Masabi is bringing Fare Payments-as-a-Service to public transport agencies of all sizes around the globe, enabling them to receive the latest fare payment innovations quickly, using a platform which is constantly updating and adding new features. This not only improves the journey experience for passengers but helps agencies keep up with the pace of technology change, while reducing the total cost of fare collection. With over eighty agencies of all sizes across eleven countries signed up, Masabi’s Justride is the world’s leading fare payments platform. Masabi has offices in New York, Denver, London, and Cluj, and investors include Mastercard, Shell and Keolis. For more information, visit www.masabi.com.
About Mastercard
Mastercard is a global technology company in the payments industry. Their mission is to connect and power an inclusive, digital economy that benefits everyone, everywhere by making transactions safe, simple, smart and accessible. Using secure data and networks, partnerships and passion, their innovations and solutions help individuals, financial institutions, governments and businesses realize their greatest potential. Decency quotient, or DQ, drives our culture and everything we do inside and outside of our company. With connections across more than 210 countries and territories, we are building a sustainable world that unlocks priceless possibilities for all. www.mastercard.com.
About BBVA
BBVA is a customer-centric global financial services group founded in 1857. The Group has a strong leadership position in the Spanish market, is the largest financial institution in Mexico, it has leading franchises in South America and the Sunbelt Region of the United States. It is also the leading shareholder in Turkey’s Garanti BBVA. Its purpose is to bring the age of opportunities to everyone, based on our customers’ real needs: provide the best solutions, helping them make the best financial decisions, through an easy and convenient experience. The institution rests in solid values: Customer comes first, we think big and we are one team. Its responsible banking model aspires to achieve a more inclusive and sustainable society.
About EMT Valencia
The Municipal Transport Company of Valencia provides public transport services to the city of Valencia and to some towns of the metropolitan area. EMT Valencia is staffed by 1,700 employees who ensure provision of the public service. In 2019, around 97 million of travelers used the public buses, 10% more than four years ago, and the company was the highest scoring municipal service as evaluated by all citizens in Valencia. EMT Valencia is a company committed to a sustainable, accessible and more energy-efficient public transport service to combat climate change and promote a safe and friendly city. https://www.emtvalencia.es/
