Unicard, a provider of smart ticketing and payment solutions to the public and commercial transport sector, has announced its acquisition of fellow smart ticketing business Ecebs from Visa.
The move sees Unicard add contactless EMV to its solutions portfolio, which includes of a smart ticketing platform, supporting both commercial and concessionary fare schemes, alongside ITSO, account-based ticketing, Mobility-as-a-Service, and rail ticketing solutions.
In addition, Unicard plans to migrate all of Ecebs’ on-premise infrastructure to the cloud to provide “more scalable and cost-effective services to its customers”.
According to Unicard, the combined range of solutions caters to the deployment of multi-operator, multi-token, multi-modal services across trains, buses, e-scooters and other forms of transport.
Unicard’s solutions have reportedly been adopted by more than 70 local and regional authorities in England and Scotland, including Transport for West Midlands (TfWM), Transport Scotland, Mersey Travel and Solent Transport, as well as the provision of central back office for Rail Delivery Group.
And following the Ecebs acquisition, Unicard will now also work with Transport for Wales and Transport for London.
Sean Dickinson, CEO of Unicard, said: “Acquiring Ecebs has strengthened Unicard’s position in the smart travel market, and significantly extends our capabilities and footprint.
“We’re committed to delivering accessible, inclusive and integrated ticketing solutions for both our new and existing customers, while also helping them deliver new, innovative smart travel schemes.”
Unicard has also signed a commercial agreement with Visa to use its Cybersource global payments platform., which will enable Unicard to offer its services across international borders.
However, the company said its immediate focus remains on expanding its footprint in the UK, with Unicard working with Nottingham City Council to help support its Future Transport Zone ambitions.
Unicard said Nottingham City Council could benefit from the solution provider’s experience with the rollout of MaaS for TfWM’s Swift travel scheme, and the MaaS and rail accreditation elements of Solent Transport’s Breeze travel app.
Innovations and achievements such as this will highlighted and celebrated at the second annual CiTTi Awards on 21 November 2023 at the De Vere Grand Connaught Rooms in London. Entries are now open and close on August 21. Visit www.cittiawards.co.uk to learn more about this unmissable event for the UK’s transportation sector!
