Las Vegas’ Regional Transportation Commission Launches Open Payments System-Wide Powered by Masabi
System to revolutionize the passenger experience for Las Vegas tourists and locals via contactless credit cards, phones or smartwatches
LAS VEGAS, NV – December 18, 2023 – The Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada (RTC) and Masabi, the company delivering Fare Payments-as-a-Service through its open platform Justride, today announced the launch of a ground-breaking Open Payments solution across RTC’s entire network. Las Vegas tourists and local riders can now simply tap their contactless credit or debit card or mobile device to pay for transit without having to download the RTC’s app or buy a paper pass. This solution, delivered in conjunction with Visa, a global leader in payments, helps provide both convenience and speedy boarding, making it easier and more intuitive for passengers to ride the region’s buses.
Open Payments significantly increases convenience and flexibility for RTC riders, allowing them to use the contactless cards or mobile wallets already in their pocket to quickly board the bus and tap to pay without needing to select a fare or buy a ticket in advance. This is particularly beneficial for the millions of tourists who visit Las Vegas, as it makes using the region’s transit network simple and accessible. For RTC, adopting Open Payments enhances operational efficiency and reduces costs associated with traditional ticketing infrastructure, enabling quicker boarding times and leading to improved service reliability and customer satisfaction.
To deliver this solution, Masabi selected the Visa Acceptance Platform to seamlessly and securely accept contactless payments, manage risk and provide tokenization services, while also leveraging its acquiring partnership with Worldpay from FIS. The combined offering delivers a unique off-the-shelf configuration that is now available to all Justride customers in the United States and includes pre-integrated validators, Level 3 EMV pre-certification, and a Merchant of Record service. This solution simplifies the adoption of an Open Payments system for agencies of all sizes across North America. Today’s news aligns with June’s Account-Based Ticketing launch, delivering a similar ‘Scan to Pay’ rider experience for RideRTC app users and cash riders. Both solutions are powered by the same platform.
“Open payments provide the most straightforward rider experience by enabling riders to simply tap a card or phone to pay and ride,” said Brian Zanghi, CEO at Masabi. “Working closely with our partners at Visa and Worldpay we’re delighted to have launched this new system in Las Vegas, bringing cutting-edge payment technology city-wide to a major US metropolitan area and prioritizing the convenience of riders to deliver a frictionless travel experience.”
“We launched Account-Based Ticketing in June this year, and since then, we have continued to deliver innovation with our partners at Masabi, working to create the best solution possible to address the needs of our diverse customer base,” said MJ Maynard, CEO, RTC. “Today’s launch illustrates the speed of innovation in fare collection at RTC, and we’re pleased to work with our partners to deliver this cutting-edge innovation to our riders.”
“The Visa Acceptance Platform was created to help partners like Masabi easily integrate advanced payment services and bring innovative solutions to market that can change the way people pay in their everyday lives,” added Dan Sanford, Head of Product & Solutions, North America at Visa. “In this case, we’re transforming how transit agencies accept fares so riders can get around faster and more conveniently.”
