Mastercard, Kisio Team To Streamline Transport Payments

Mastercard and Kisio, a unit of Keolis, are joining forces to make it easier for people to pay for transportation around a city.

In a press release, the companies announced at Smart Cities New York (SCNY) that Mastercard and Kisio will transform how millions of people get around cities by embedding Mastercard’s payment technology into Kisio’s trip planning and ticketing capabilities. Transportation providers will be able to let passengers book their trips in one app.

“Working with over 150 cities around the world, we have improved the transit experience for residents and visitors while delivering efficiencies for operators. Together with Kisio and our other City Possible partners, we’re ready to take on the next mobility challenge, co-creating ‘mobility-as-a-service’ options that make tech truly work for people,” said Miguel Gamiño Jr., head of global cities at Mastercard.

Citing a recent survey, Mastercard said that 57 percent of people who live in cities expect those cities to offer one account that can cover all modes of transportation. As it stands, most city dwellers have to purchase separate tickets for each mode of public transportation.

“As passengers get ever more out of their smart devices, they also expect more from transport operators and authorities regarding digital services. By partnering with Mastercard, we are able to deliver on this expectation in new and exciting ways, bringing to market a fully functional platform for multimodal transport apps,” said Pacôme Lesage, chief executive officer at Kisio Digital.

According to the companies, Kisio joined City Possible, an initiative started by Mastercard to collaborate for more inclusive and sustainable cities. In the next few months, the two companies plan to invite select cities from the global City Possible network to co-create and pilot a mobility-as-a-service (MaaS) platform that fully integrates with local transit authorities. The first MaaS deployment for Kisio will be in the Netherlands this summer.

Kisio’s Navitia mobility platform is already being used by over 50 local transportation and technology providers worldwide, including in France, the United States and Canada, noted the companies.