New revenue streams for transit operators through NFC

NXP has claimed the top spot in the contactless ticketing market in ABI Research’s new market analysis. Shipments of the Mifare range (Classic, Plus, Ultralight, and DESFire) remain strong despite some security concerns around the Classic product. ABI says that overall, Mifare has withstood scrutiny and demonstrates that the highest level of security is not an overriding factor in adoption with the focus on cost effectiveness, convenience, and reliability. The lack of alternative solutions has helped cement
May 9, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
5460 NXP has claimed the top spot in the contactless ticketing market in 5725 ABI Research’s new market analysis. Shipments of the Mifare range (Classic, Plus, Ultralight, and DESFire) remain strong despite some security concerns around the Classic product. ABI says that overall, Mifare has withstood scrutiny and demonstrates that the highest level of security is not an overriding factor in adoption with the focus on cost effectiveness, convenience, and reliability. The lack of alternative solutions has helped cement a strong market presence early on and the depth and breadth of the current product range gives the brand continued success.

Historically, the market has been dominated by proprietary systems such as Mifare and Calypso, although moves are underway that could potentially open up the market. Open loop payments using the EMV platform are a hot topic and there has already been a large scale implementation throughout 1466 Transport for London’s network in preparation for the 2012 Olympics.

The convergence between open-loop payments and contactless ticketing would allow seamless transaction completion between multiple, international networks and also provide a launch pad for other platforms such as NFC.

Research analyst Phil Sealy comments, “The integration of NFC will present new opportunities to transit authorities. By partnering with local businesses, transit operators are able to offer value added services, providing partnering businesses the opportunity to offer consumers vouchers or marketing via NFC handsets. This will generate new revenue streams for transit operators.”

Open standards are coming to market with the OSPT having already published the specifications for Cipurse, a microcontroller-based solution. Pilots are expected to begin in 2012, with other specifications supporting a memory-based and a RFID disposable solution to follow.

Group director John Devlin says, “We expect to see Cipurse deployments start in Europe and then follow in other regions as more cities see the benefit in smarter transportation systems. A broader and more flexible product range will help it to develop like Mifare.”

ABI Research’s “Contactless Ticketing for Transportation” study provides regional shipment data on smart card and disposable RFID solutions by region and product type. The report provides ABI Research's view of the most likely future market changes and developments.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Alliance stages North American back office interoperability trial
    December 4, 2013
    JJ Eden, President and CEO of the Alliance for Toll Interoperability, talks to Jason Barnes about the new inter-agency hub, which will facilitate national transactions When it comes to achieving interoperability, the sheer diversity of technologies in operation in the US is perhaps the tolling industry’s greatest defining characteristic and its biggest challenge. The situation is in stark contrast with some other regions of the world, such as Europe where the use of common front-end Dedicated Short-Range
    Read More
  • Worldline targets Chile transport, healthcare sectors
    September 4, 2014
    French e-payment services provider Worldline is aiming to boost its presence in Chile's transport and healthcare sectors, according to the company's sales director for the country, Benhel Sarce. The firm sees strong opportunities to expand e-payment solutions in the nation's public transport system.
    Read More
  • China Telecom selects Gemalto contactless payment
    March 24, 2015
    Amsterdam-based digital security provider Gemalto is to provide China Telecom with a mobile contactless payment solution using its UpTeq Multi-tenant NFC SIMs to deploy secure NFC transport services in China's two largest cities, Shanghai and Beijing. China Telecom is a leading operator in the country with more than 183 million subscribers. This deployment will enable up to 45 million daily commuters to travel on the metro and pay for everyday purchases with a simple tap of their smartphone. The NFC SIMs ar
    Read More
  • Europe's electronic toll service closer to operational reality
    November 7, 2012
    After much debate and delay, a unifying European Electronic Toll Service is now finally on the horizon, says ASFiNAG’s Klaus Schierhackl. Here, he talks with Jason Barnes about what that might mean. Aworkable European Electronic Toll Service (EETS) which will allow truck drivers to travel across the continent and pay tolls using a single account and OnBoard Unit (OBU) was originally timetabled to be in place and operating by October of this year. A lack of urgency from some of the stakeholders involved in t
    Read More

Highlighted Content