Unicard acquires Ecebs digital ticketing business from Visa

By Gloria Methri

Unicard Ltd, a provider of Smart Ticketing and payment solutions to the public and commercial transport sector, has announced its acquisition of Smart Ticketing specialist Ecebs from Visa.

The move sees Unicard add contactless EMV to its extensive solutions portfolio, comprised of a Smart Ticketing platform, supporting both commercial and concessionary fare schemes. This is in addition to its suite of ITSO, ABT (Account Based Ticketing), MaaS (Mobility-as-a-Service), and rail ticketing solutions.

The contactless EMV solution, which allows passengers to tap in and out using a payment card, will be substantially accretive to Unicard’s capabilities. It enables the business to directly respond to the needs of Local Authorities and transport operators and puts it at the center of the smart mobility sector. The comprehensive range of solutions caters directly to the deployment of multi-operator, multi-token, and multi-modal services across trains, buses, e-Scooters, and other forms of transport.

Sean Dickinson, CEO of Unicard, said, “Acquiring Ecebs has strengthened Unicard’s position in the smart travel market, and significantly extends our capabilities and footprint. We are committed to delivering accessible, inclusive, and integrated ticketing solutions for both our new and existing customers, while also helping them deliver new, innovative smart travel schemes.”

Russell Mccullagh, General Manager of Ecebs, added, “Unicard is a well-respected business with shared interests and a similar culture. We are confident that both companies’ customers can expect to see continuous innovation and the ongoing delivery of high-quality services, offering real flexibility and a superior experience for the travelling public.”

Unicard has also signed a commercial agreement with Visa to use Cybersource, its global payments platform. This gives the company an opportunity to offer its services across international borders.

Moving forward, customers will benefit from Unicard’s secure ticketing, identity, payments, and data management capabilities to both companies’ customers. These include its MaaS-ready ITSO HOPS suite, Smart Office cardholder and customer management solution, mobile apps, ITSO integration tools, and accredited Rail Suite middleware platform for retailing UK rail tickets. In addition, as a cloud-first provider, Unicard plans to migrate all of Ecebs’ on-premise infrastructure to the cloud to provide more scalable and, ultimately, more cost-effective services to its customers.