Bolton Council launches UK’s first multi-purse smart card
28 September, 2009
category: Contactless, Financial, Transit
The first multi-purse smart card with a pay-as-you-go travel purse has been launched in Bolton, England as a result of a partnership between the Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive, the Bolton Council, Arriva buses, ticketing systems provider Parkeon, Applied Card Technologies, a UK company specializing in the installation and operation of smart card transaction systems, and sQuid, the e-money payments network.
The multi-purse smart card, which enables card holders to access Council services, use an eMoney retail purse and ITSO (Integrated Transport Smartcard Organization) enabled pay-as-you-go bus travel purse.
Card holders can now pay for bus travel on over 30 Arriva bus routes in Bolton with their card, in addition to accessing council services and shopping at local participating stores. Children in Bolton with the council issued BSmart card can now pay for their bus journey to school, entrance to a leisure center, pay for a snack and take the bus home, without ever needing to carry cash. Parents can top up their child’s card online and view their transactions should they want to.
The pay-as-you-go transit purse has been specially adapted by sQuid to work on any ITSO smart card and provides a secure platform for customers and operators to make electronic transactions.