Citadele banka has created an innovative opportunity to use payment cards as electronic tickets. Now inhabitants can register their rides on public transport in Riga and pay for public transport services from the accounts associated with their payment cards. This type of payment card is available to all inhabitants of Latvia as of today, 1 July 2015.
Citadele is the first bank in the Baltic states to offer this type of solution by adapting a payment card to the existing public transport payment system.
The new card combines the functions of a regular payment card and e-ticket. Thus, after getting on public transport in Riga, one can register their ride by holding their payment card in front of the card reader, and no separate tickets or e-tickets are necessary.
This card enables one to pay for Rīgas Satiksme's public transport (buses, trolley buses and trams) and Rīgas Mikroautobusu Satiksme's mini-bus services in Riga.
This card possesses the features of MasterCard international payment card and e-ticket. This card can be used for making payments at sales points and on-line, depositing and withdrawing cash at ATMs, registering rides on public transport in Riga and acquiring credit limits.
In addition to the e-ticket function, holders of this card also enjoy all other advantages offered by Citadele banka. New cardholders will additionally receive the American Express payment card for free – this will enable them to receive special SELECTS program discounts and other advantages.
Cards make inhabitants' everyday lives easier
"We are working purposefully to offer our clients added value with all of our key products. We have joined our efforts to make sure that Citadele's payment cards offer our clients various advantages and discounts apart from functioning merely as bank cards. Now we have made another step forward in responding to technological progress by adding another useful function to the advantages offered by our payment cards, i.e. now our payment cards can be used as e-tickets and paying for the use of public transport has become even more convenient. Those who use public transport in Riga regularly, as well as those who use it less frequently, will benefit from this solution the most," comments Guntis Beļavskis, CEO of Citadele banka.
He points out, "We wish to make Latvia's inhabitants' everyday lives more convenient by introducing payment cards with e-ticket function. You do not need to worry about purchasing e-tickets or buying tickets before using public transport in Riga when you use Citadele's card with e-ticket function. If you have Citadele's new payment card with e-ticket function in your wallet, you are welcome to use Riga's public transport at any time."
"Rīgas Satiksme expresses its satisfaction with the fact that passengers now have more varied opportunities to pay for public transport services. Those passengers who possess Citadele's payment cards will not need to choose the necessary ticket and purchase it before the ride. Thus, we see this as a modern and client-oriented payment system," explains Leons Bemhens, CEO of Riga Municipality's company Rīgas Satiksme.
One of the first people to try Citadele's payment card with e-ticket function in practice was Regīna Devīte, actress of Valmieras Drama Theatre. "I use public transport in Riga very frequently; I come here every week for shooting film series. A payment card with the e-ticket function is definitely more convenient for me because I do not need to top it up at kiosks and worry about the number of paid rides left on the card. I have witnessed situations where I get on public transport and I realize that I have neither an e-ticket, nor change. But I always have my payment card with me – and I just register the ride!"
According to Rīgas Satiksme's data for the past three months, an average of 276 000 passengers use tickets for one ride on public transport and an almost equal amount of people use tickets for two rides every month. Tickets for 10 rides are also popular – they are used 77 000 times a month whereas tickets for 20 rides are used 45 000 a month on the average. About 53 000 thousand passengers purchase one-month public transport passes, and only 8 600 passengers purchase passes for all public transport types (price: EUR 50).
Beneficial tariffs applied automatically
The price for one ride on Rīgas Satiksme's public transport using your Citadele payment card will be EUR 1.15, which is equal to the cost for buying public transport tickets in advance. Your payment card will keep record of the number of times you register it as an e-ticket during the calendar month and apply the same discounts that are applied to e-tickets sold at kiosks for a certain number of rides or monthly passes.
This card is not eligible for discounts (for orphans, people with disability, politically repressed persons, schoolchildren, etc.).
According to Rīgas Satiksme's data, 95 000–100 000 people buy tickets from public transport drivers (price: EUR 2) every month. From now on, holders of Citadele payment cards with e-ticket function will no longer need to purchase tickets from drivers at a higher price or look for places to buy pre-paid tickets.
Citadele payment cards with e-ticket function will also be convenient for those who use public transport frequently and purchase monthly passes. Payment cards record the number of registered rides, and if the total amount of rides used during a calendar month reaches the sum of a monthly pass, then no additional cost will be charged for subsequent rides.
We have also thought about advantages for those who use public transport 10 or 20 times a month. For example, if one registers 10 rides, then their account is charged for EUR 1.15 for nine rides, and on the tenth ride their account is charged for EUR 0.55. Thus, the total price for 10 rides becomes EUR 10.90, which equals to the price of an e-ticket for 10 rides.