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eMoney News

sQuid launches pay-as-you-go transit cards for buses in Dundee
30 Sep 2010

A new smart card travel scheme for pay-as-you-go bus journeys in Dundee has been launched by sQuid, in association with National Express.

From the beginning of next year, the new service will be added to National Entitlement Cards (NEC), which are already equipped with several of sQuid's electronic money services in Dundee.

Passengers using National Express Dundee buses will now be able to use their contactless smart cards as an alternative to paper tickets, with the ability to add e money to their accounts online using a debit or credit card.

Lawrence Davie, director for National Express Dundee, explained: "A travelling customer just loads their transit purse with value and a deduction is made every time the card is used."

He added that the NEC is already widely used in the area, which makes it an ideal all-in-one solution for consumers.

Mr Davie continued: "[It] distributes concessionary entitlements to bus travellers, [which] means that we can now make paid-for smart travel a reality."

The transit cards will be rolled out on Scottish buses once smart card readers have been installed on all of National Express's Dundee vehicles.

A number of contactless smart card services have already been launched on the NEC, with sQuid's e-money purse capable of being used in libraries and at LeisureActive fitness studios and facilities across the city.

Students at the University of Abertay in Dundee will also find that sQuid is active on their Abertay NECs, for use at Cafe Aroma, the Campus Shop and Level One – Bar One and Diner.

Adam Smith, chief executive of sQuid, said: "We are delighted to be working with National Express and their National Express Dundee operation.

"sQuid's aim is to provide intelligent smartcard payment services, and this new service is a great step forward. Customers simply register their cards and can top up the purse online, ready for use in retail shops, schools, council facilities and now for bus travel too."

A number of local authorities across Scotland have already rolled out sQuid eMoney technology as part of the NEC scheme. Residents in North Lanarkshire, Dumfries and Galloway and Aberdeen can all add sQuid to their NECs and make contactless payments for goods and travel services, as well as earningloyalty perks.

To date, more than 1.5 million people in Scotland have signed up for an NEC, according to Sid Bulloch, manager of the programme.

"Service innovations like this are a great example of the public and private sectors working together, and adding real value for our citizens," he said.

The NEC programme is run as a partnership between the Scottish government and local councils across the country, with the aim of making it quicker and easier for residents to access a multitude of services through a single card.

NECs are one part of the wider Customer First scheme, which aims to encourage local authorities to improve access to services, such as public transport, fitness centres and libraries.