Q&A with the S&B Team
It’s no secret that Account Based Ticketing has the potential to significantly cut operating costs and make services more efficient; giving your customers a hassle-free experience and the assurance they will always be charged the cheapest available fare.
The opportunities to reframe daily travel in a post-Covid world are huge; commuters need to work flexibly in an ever-changing world without being penalised for travelling less; and leisure passengers will take more trips if they know the fare they’re paying is the best available.
But why should you choose Scheidt & Bachmann for your ABT solution?
We ask the people who know best.
Expertise
“I think our experience and heritage is hugely important. With 65% of the TVMs in the UK, we have four decades’ worth of experience in the complexity of national rail tariffs and fare collection. The fact we already know them inside out means we can build your solution more quickly, more intuitively and with fewer issues in the future as we have not only anticipated, but solved, problems from the start. No other provider can offer you the same level of assurance”. (Jess U).
David Sainsbury continues “It’s not just technical capability; our existing customers (including Greater Anglia, East Midlands Railway, and Merseyrail) say we’re knowledgeable and easy to work with, and we implicitly understand that implementation of account based ticketing can be a ‘big ask’ for small teams. That’s why we offer a range of options to suit you, including a ‘ready to go’ full package of ABT and customer account management - including customer service, and are in the process of connecting of FareGo Suite with Global Payments.
Agility
Jess agrees “Our solution is scalable and modular, we have local schemes in the US, a city-wide scheme in Bonn and a nationwide scheme in the Netherlands. We are happy to offer pilot implementations - learn, adapt and grow with FareGo Suite, as it were.
Crucially, we can use your existing validator infrastructure (assuming that it is EMV1 and 2 compliant). Our robust API layers mean that our back office can integrate with what you already have so there’s no need to change either your hardware or front end devices. The value from your existing investments is maximised, and implementation is considerably quicker and cheape r than you might imagine”.
Ben is equally keen to highlight the wide range of services that support the ABT offering; reflecting a very deliberate evolution from a product-based to a service-led company: “Our customers, when integrating their systems with our solution, can choose to buy other products from across our entire fare collection portfolio (see graph). It’s very much the sum of its parts - we can offer 24/7 customer support if required and have the security and reactive confidence of our directly employed and UK-based software engineering teams”.
Agility - products across our entire fare collection portfolio.
Innovation
“I think Ben makes a good point” says David. “Whilst we are far better known in the UK for TVMs (infact, we have 65% of the TVM market with around 3000 TVMs, 550 Pvals and 100 ATGs for both Public Transport Authorities and TOCs), we are not relying on this heritage in the face of change - the knowledge behind them is an excellent foundation for the successful implementation and running of your ABT solution.
Innovation and agility has always been integral to S&B’s evolution and since winning the contract with Translink in the Netherlands we have developed FareGo Suite as our own proprietary, complete system and directly employ more than 400 software developers to support but also develop our tech platforms - 100 of whom are dedicated to ABT”.
Trust
He continues “Customer service is essential. With ABT, people tend to focus on the snazzy, look how easy it is, implement in double quick time stuff but the reality is different. Tariffs can be complicated, integration with 3rd party systems takes time and effort, payment risk must be minimised and above all, solutions must be reliable.
We’ve addressed this with a dependable, efficient service team; we are well set up to manage any service levels: case management, asset monitoring in real time, reporting, data capture and data warehousing. We have also built relationships with other long-standing suppliers in the industry including Global Pay. It all adds up to ongoing confidence in what we offer our customers”.
The future
We’re currently experiencing one of the biggest periods of change in our history”, comments Jess, “and one thing we do know is that the travel sector will continue to be significantly affected by world events. Technological advancements are speeding up what’s possible and we’re proud that our ABT offering can help solve many of the tough issues facing transport operators.
David interjects, “Let’s be clear, though, account based innovations do not mean the end of traditional TVMs - far from it! ABT is a tool that will run alongside and complement your existing retail channels, not replace them. Inclusivity is a key factor, not everyone has a bank card or smartphone and the considerable cost benefits of efficient and well-maintained, German manufactured TVMs will continue to be a win-win for operators well into the future”.
“Good point”, agrees Ben, “We listen to what our customers want and need, in the short and long term, and address their challenges alongside them. For example, our scheme in the Netherlands is still in the pilot phase. It’s a big scheme and programmes like it tend to move at a glacial pace, London’s Oyster took about ten years to implement for instance, but we are partnering on the project and both learning at every stage.
Jess U, National Sales Manager,
Scheidt & Bachmann
David Sainsbury, Product & Bid Manager,
Scheidt & Bachmann
Ben Jones, Business Development Manager,
Scheidt & Bachmann
Our modular system architecture and open data interfaces allow you to tailor your account-based ticketing system to your exact requirements.