As we look to the future, journeys will become increasingly multi-modal – in other words, when people get around town, it will involve more than one type of transportation.  Car, bus, train, tram, scooter or bike – even though these types of transportation compete against each other, the customer is going to decide when and how they incorporate them into their trip.  They should function together, seamlessly, making it easier for people to plan and pay for a single journey without having to buy multiple tickets.  The key advantage of smarter payment technologies is the ability to streamline the way consumers pay across all form of transportation – including trains, buses, cars and public bikes. This will make it far easier for consumers to plan and pay for a journey that might include more than one type of transportation, improving the overall experience.
Visa has a valuable role to play here, acting as the ‘connective tissue’ that helps cities understand the broader patterns of consumer behaviour. Frictionless transport payments are just one of the many benefits that consumers are experiencing from the rise of smarter payment technologies. The key advantages of digital payments are convenience, security and the fact that they’re easily traceable.