Transport for London Licenses Contactless Payment Technology

When it comes to accepting payments for transportation, London has got something over a lot of other cities around the world: ease of use. Riders of its underground Tube are accustomed to swiping a bank card, mobile phone and smartwatch to get in and out of the terminals and to board buses. That ease of use in paying for transportation has piqued the interest of other cities around the world that could soon begin using London’s technology under a new deal.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan announced a deal, which is valued at up to £15 million, in which Cubic Transportation Systems will integrate London’s contactless payment technology with existing systems in other cities. The funds from the new deal will be used to invest in new transportation infrastructure and to freeze fares, said Khan.

While the deal is in the early stages, it is possible that Transport for London (TfL) technology will be found in Sydney, Brisbane, Vancouver and Chicago, areas that Cubic Transportation Systems operates in. Cubic Transportation Systems purchased the rights to incorporate TfL’s contactless payment system around the world.

The deal with Cubic Transportation Systems is the first of more agreements expected by TfL, which is looking to sell or license intellectual property to U.K. and international companies. The contactless payment system has supported more than 500 million trips and has accepted payment by more than 12 million unique credit cards and debit cards from 90 countries. What’s more, one in 10 contactless transactions completed by Brits is made on TfL’s network.

This isn’t the first deal TfL has inked with Cubic Transportation Systems. In July 2014, the two finalized a 20-year contract in which Cubic Transportation provides maintenance, availability of ticketing and fare collection equipment at London Underground and Overground stations.