FARA Finalist at the Transport Ticketing Awards 2026

FARA has been named a finalist at the Transport Ticketing Awards 2026 in the category Best Passenger Experience Initiative, together with XPP and four Norwegian public transport authorities.

The finalist initiative is titled:
"Removing payment frictions in revenue collection: high-value payment on a validator in public transport."

Addressing payment friction at boarding

In many public transport systems, passengers are faced with multiple onboard devices for payment, validation and identification. This can create confusion, longer boarding times and increased operational complexity. For authorities and operators, maintaining several devices also adds to hardware, maintenance and operational costs.

The challenge addressed by the initiative was to introduce contactless EMV ticketing, including higher-value transactions, without disrupting existing sales channels and without adding more devices at the vehicle doors.

A standardised validator-based setup

To address this, FARA and XPP partnered to deliver a standardised setup based on a single validator.
FARA provides the validator and ticketing setup, while XPP delivers the required financial infrastructure, including payment gateway services, payment footprint reconstruction, tokenisation and acquirer integration.

A key challenge was enabling high-value contactless payments without PIN verification. For higher-value transactions, issuing banks may otherwise classify payments as high risk and block them. Through collaboration with payment schemes, the solution allows such transactions to be processed directly on the validator, without disrupting operations.

Benefits for passengers and authorities

The solution replaces separate payment terminals and validators with one device handling validation and EMV payments, simplifying the boarding experience for passengers.

Transactions are processed in a familiar way for users, similar to contactless payments in retail environments. The acceptance rate is high, with most declined transactions linked to card or bank settings rather than system limitations.

For public transport authorities, the approach reduces the need for multiple onboard devices, helping lower hardware and operational costs while improving control over revenue collection.

Supporting known fares and future development

The standardised setup supports known fares across different travel needs, including more complex regional fare structures beyond single adult, single zone and traditional travel cards.

The initiative also provides a foundation for further development, including account-based ticketing, aggregation of sales channels and interoperability between regions, enabling seamless travel across operators without additional charges when changing services.

Industry recognition

The Transport Ticketing Awards recognise innovation and best practice across the global public transport ticketing industry. Being named a finalist in the Best Passenger Experience Initiative category highlights the importance of simplifying payment flows while ensuring reliable and efficient revenue collection.

More information about the Transport Ticketing Awards 2026 finalists is available at: https://www.transport-ticketing.com/awards-categories/2026-finalists