Interview Spotlight: continuing the transition to cashless mobility

What are the trends or problems in transport payment that you foresee affecting operators?

With the increase of contactless payment options, we see a lot of operators pushing towards contactless fare collection and benefitting from the speed this delivers, particularly on board buses and trams. Traditional cashless terminals don’t offer this type of payment; either they don’t accept contactless payment at all, or they don’t deliver the quality user interface in compact form that these environments require.

As the industry leans towards smaller, consolidated kiosks, the demand for an all-in-one cashless solution is rising, versus the current state of the three-piece card reader solution (card reader, PIN pad/screen and contactless reader). Due to the pervasiveness of this trend throughout the industry, operators are in no way lacking options when it comes to suppliers of an all-in-one solution. It gives them an opportunity to really shop around and look for additional features that will increase their revenue and drive operational efficiencies. Operators can look to maximise the value of their investment by seeking features such as: larger screens with customised interfaces and digital advertising options; advanced and insightful data collection; and solutions that ensure secure, seamless transaction processing and terminal management.

How do you anticipate CPI will be able to compete and succeed in the cashless space in transport, considering its current expertise in the sector are in cash management?

While CPI is new to the transport cashless market, we have a strong history of providing leading connectivity solutions throughout other areas of our business. With over 600,000 cashless connections worldwide, and more than a million machines managed on our enterprise software platform, our existing expertise in connectivity paired with our strong relationships in transport mean we are equipped to easily adapt to the cashless needs of transport operators. Our global presence as a part of a large corporation (Crane Co.) means our resources are focused on delivering next-level value to the operator, with solutions that work to anticipate their needs.

By combining our expertise in cashless payment with our insider knowledge of operator needs –backed by our years of providing cash hardware solutions – CPI can provide a unique offering that goes beyond the status quo of all-in-one cashless offerings. This means an offering with an emphasis on managing hardware data and keeping transactions secure. We are excited to bring offerings to the transport sector that have revolutionised industries like gaming and vending, such as connecting payment devices to our enterprise software to extract meaningful, actionable data, or provide real-time diagnostics that minimise downtime and offer customer insights.

We are also confident that by offering operators the chance to purchase from a single payment supplier (note, coin, and cashless – all by CPI), we will be able to simplify the integration and service process, further capitalising on their investment.

As a part of Crane Co., our emphasis is on security as a constant process rather than a single touchpoint. With years of experience in adapting to security protocols, we know that PCI-compliance is not enough, and that’s why we have round-the-clock teams in place to monitor, anticipate and pre-empt any potential breaches.