Portugal news 🇵🇹 PBN Mastercard announces partnership with Portuguese Ubirider
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Mastercard announces partnership with Portuguese Ubirider


Mastercard announces partnership with Portuguese Ubirider - portugalbusinessesnews.com
Mastercard announces partnership with Portuguese Ubirider - Portugal Business News

Mastercard just announced their partnership agreement with Portuguese start-up Ubirider to provide Mobility-as-a-Service solutions for transit operators globally.


According to Mastercard, the collaboration with Portuguese company Ubirider will focus on creating more efficient and sustainable digital payment and ticketing solutions for transport operators.


Portuguese payment solution Ubirider will be exported globally by Mastercard. According to StartUp Portugal, after the pilot projects in Évora and with Fertagus, the Tap-on-Phone contactless payment solution of the Pick Hub app is now being launched globally.


The technology developed by the startup Ubirider transforms a smartphone into a payment terminal that is simpler, faster and more accessible than traditional systems that are based on heavy and expensive hardware.


The agreement between Mastercard and Ubirider, the Portugal-based developers of Pick, that is a Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) platform, the partners will jointly offer innovative digital solutions that combine operational, payment and ticketing resources for public transport operators.


Mastercard stated that this partnership would expand on the early success of the products in Portugal to simplify access and payments for mobility services. The MaaS platform Pick, which comprises mobile applications, cloud software and web portals, incorporates state-of-the-art payment technologies that benefit users in terms of convenience.


“Mastercard works with partners around the world to help people move around urban environments seamlessly. In that spirit, we partnered with Ubirider both because their digital and multi-modal solutions align closely with our vision, and because the Ubirider platform directly addresses rapidly evolving user and transit operator needs," said Chapin Flynn, Senior Vice President, Transit and Mobility of Mastercard.


The management of public transport systems varies from country to country, but there is a common thread between almost all public transport operators: all of them struggle to manage and integrate several technological platforms into their operation. These challenges include the management of schedules, drivers and services offered, while communicating information to the public as well as issuing tickets, accepting payments and issuing invoices and receipts.


The platform Pick by Ubirider combines all these functions in an integrated digital environment, not only saving time and costs, but also improving efficiency as it integrates all operational data into a single application.


Pick also includes a powerful payment management system, which allows passengers to buy trips involving multi-modal mobility services by aggregated payment that is immediately distributed by the operators involved, reducing payment friction and time for passengers, as well as administrative costs and burdens for operators.


In addition, Pick offers transport operators advanced contactless payment technologies, such as Tap-on-Phone, a PCI-certified and secure software technology that transforms a smartphone into a simple payment terminal; that are more powerful and affordable than traditional systems which are based on heavy and expensive hardware.


The Mastercard and Ubirider partnership has allowed Fertagus, the operator of suburban trains in the Lisbon metropolitan area that handles more than 2.8 million passengers per month, to also adopt the Pick platform. Through this platform, more than 30% of ticket sales were transacted in the first 10 months in a clear demonstration of adoption by users who consider the application useful and easy to navigate.


“We have been working with Mastercard for some time in Portugal and this agreement is the result of successful cases that we have achieved together, but also of the conviction that our digital Mobility-as-a-Service platform, Pick, is ready to compete successfully around the world,” said Paulo Ferreira dos Santos, CEO and Founder of Ubirider, adding that “the relationship with Mastercard allows Ubirider to continue to incorporate the most advanced payment technologies and allows us a global reach in terms of market opportunities.”


Ubirider's Pick Hub app, that is available on the Apple App Store and Google Play, allows users to plan their door-to-door trips, pay for their tickets and travel to any destination, anywhere, using the best combination.









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