{"id":84865,"date":"2021-10-21T11:04:42","date_gmt":"2021-10-21T11:04:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/interac1.wpengine.com\/?post_type=content&#038;p=84865"},"modified":"2025-05-30T14:56:51","modified_gmt":"2025-05-30T18:56:51","slug":"interac-debit-is-getting-on-board-with-canadian-transit-systems","status":"publish","type":"content","link":"https:\/\/stage.interac.ca\/en\/content\/news\/interac-debit-is-getting-on-board-with-canadian-transit-systems\/","title":{"rendered":"<i>Interac<\/i> Debit is getting on board with Canadian transit systems"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Canadian cities are seeing ongoing investments in public transit, from upgraded vehicles to expanded routes. The Ontario government is moving forward with a <a href=\"https:\/\/toronto.ctvnews.ca\/trudeau-announces-billions-in-funding-for-five-toronto-area-transit-projects-1.5423025\">$28-billion plan to expand transit in the <\/a>Greater Toronto Area, while <a href=\"https:\/\/rem.info\/en\">Montreal<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newswire.ca\/news-releases\/federal-government-and-province-commit-to-shovel-ready-hamilton-light-rail-transit-project-from-mcmaster-to-eastgate-at-centennial-park-881509643.html\">Hamilton, Ontario<\/a>, are moving forward with major light-rail projects \u2014&nbsp;to name just a few examples.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For those tasked with guiding the public transportation sector toward a post-pandemic reality, the question now becomes how to rebuild ridership in the years&nbsp; to come, and welcome new riders to transit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-interac-debit-and-contactless-payments-for-transit-riders\"><strong><em>Interac<\/em> Debit and contactless payments for transit riders<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>One piece of the transit puzzle will be modernized payment systems. In Canada and abroad, contactless and open-loop payments are gearing up to play their part in the future of transit systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the country\u2019s biggest city, we\u2019re making that happen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Interac<\/em> Debit is now being accepted for the first time as a contactless payment option on UP Express through a pilot led by Metrolinx on the <a href=\"https:\/\/stage.interac.ca\/content\/news\/interac-debit-contactless-payments-now-accepted-on-up-express-presto-devices\/\">PRESTO fare payment system<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cEarlier this year,&nbsp;we&nbsp;launched a pilot on UP Express to allow transit riders to pay their fare with their credit cards, modernizing the&nbsp;PRESTO&nbsp;payment experience\u201d said Barclay Hancock, Chief Payments Officer,&nbsp;Metrolinx. \u201cWe\u2019re thrilled to now be adding&nbsp;<em>Interac<\/em>&nbsp;Debit to this pilot, providing even more choice and convenience&nbsp;for customers&nbsp;and marking a first for a transit authority in Canada.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With debit being one of the most prevalent forms of payment \u2014 <a href=\"https:\/\/payments.ca\/surge-electronic-payments-representing-around-77-cent-all-transactions-reports-payments-canada\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">94 per cent of Canadian adults have a debit card<\/a>\u2014\u00a0it\u2019ll be an option that potentially impacts the most riders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-contactless-and-open-loop-payments-can-get-cities-moving-again\"><strong>Contactless and open-loop payments can get cities moving again<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>COVID-19 made <a href=\"https:\/\/stage.interac.ca\/content\/news\/interac-and-many-of-canadas-leading-financial-institutions-enhance-interac-e-transfer-to-introduce-instant-digital-payments-for-businesses\/\">contactless payments more popular across Canada<\/a>, and that\u2019s true globally as well. Cities are applying this lesson to transit, moving forward with contactless payment systems that enable commuters to pay fares with a tap of their debit card or digital wallet. This helps public transportation systems to address evolving expectations from riders, and to counter pandemic hesitancy and concerns around hygiene.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Transit providers had been exploring ways to modernize fare collection systems and improve rider convenience for years.COVID-19 amplified the need. Open-loop systems are gathering pace around the world, from Helsinki to Manila \u2013 and, closer to home, the city of Laval, Quebec, which is rolling out a contactless payment option for its buses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"887\" data-src=\"https:\/\/stage.interac.ca\/wp-content\/smush-webp\/2021\/10\/INT_Transit21_Announcement_InArticle-1024x887.png.webp\" alt=\"Text: Cities around the world are modernizing payment systems. Canadian transit riders are ready\" class=\"wp-image-84884 lazyload\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/stage.interac.ca\/wp-content\/smush-webp\/2021\/10\/INT_Transit21_Announcement_InArticle-1024x887.png.webp 1024w, https:\/\/stage.interac.ca\/wp-content\/smush-webp\/2021\/10\/INT_Transit21_Announcement_InArticle-300x260.png.webp 300w, https:\/\/stage.interac.ca\/wp-content\/smush-webp\/2021\/10\/INT_Transit21_Announcement_InArticle-768x665.png.webp 768w, https:\/\/stage.interac.ca\/wp-content\/smush-webp\/2021\/10\/INT_Transit21_Announcement_InArticle.png.webp 1168w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 1024px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 1024\/887;\" data-original-sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Canadian commuters are ready for open-loop payments, too. According to a survey by lnterac Corp. (Interac) conducted just before the onset of the pandemic most Canadians surveyed <a href=\"https:\/\/newsroom.interac.ca\/interac-reports-interac-transit-survey\/\">say they would use an open-loop payments system<\/a>. More than half of Canadian transit riders surveyed say they\u2019re ready for a new way to pay for their rides, and just over two-thirds said they believed paying for transit should be as easy as paying for their groceries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Interac is working with other transit authorities across Canada to enable contactless open-loop payments. \u201cWhen transit authorities add <em>Interac <\/em>Debit they are offering their riders a form of payment that almost 30 million Canadians already use for day-to-day purchases,\u201d said Peter Maoloni, VP Product &amp; Services, Interac Corp.&nbsp;\u201cThe inclusion of contactless payment options can also help with the responsible recovery of transit networks \u2013 and cities \u2013 from the COVID-19 pandemic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-interac-enabling-the-future-of-mobility\"><strong>Interac enabling the future of mobility<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Looking further ahead to the not-too-distant future, Canadians could have the option to use multiple means of public transportation in a seamless journey by making one single payment \u2013 for example integrating ride- or bike-sharing services with buses, trains, subways and other modes of transportation. Digital payments will be important to developing these multi-modal mobility services to meet Canadians\u2019 needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Interac <a href=\"https:\/\/stage.interac.ca\/business\/our-solutions\/interac-debit\/our-role-in-the-future-of-mobility-in-canada\/\">can help transit authorities implement debit for transit payments<\/a> \u2014&nbsp;and we\u2019re happy to hear from potential partners who are also eager to get Canadian cities moving again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>_____<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><sub>*Payment options depicted are intended to show examples of what the future of modernized transit payments could look like, and do not reflect products actually available in market.*<\/sub><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><sub><em>Interac&nbsp;<\/em>is a registered&nbsp;trade-mark&nbsp;of Interac Corp.&nbsp; <\/sub><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><sub>The Contactless Indicator mark, consisting of four graduating arcs, is a trademark owned by and used with permission of EMVCo, LLC.<\/sub><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Canadian cities are seeing ongoing investments in public transit, from upgraded vehicles to expanded routes. The Ontario government is moving forward with a $28-billion plan to expand transit in the Greater Toronto Area, while Montreal and Hamilton, Ontario, are moving forward with major light-rail projects \u2014&nbsp;to name just a few examples. For those tasked with&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":84882,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"content-tags":[952,279,283,297],"content-category":[193],"spokespeople":[],"in_the_know_post_format":[169],"class_list":["post-84865","content","type-content","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","content-tags-enterprise-and-government","content-tags-interac-debit","content-tags-payments","content-tags-transit","content-category-news","in_the_know_post_format-article"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.2 (Yoast SEO v27.2) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Contactless &amp; Open Transit Payments with Interac Debit<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Canadian transit riders can soon tap their Interac Debit card or digital wallet to pay their fare thanks to contactless, open-loop payments. 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