Gemalto, Orange, RATP and SNCF to Create Wizway Solutions

Heads of four leading public services and companies in France – Elisabeth Borne, chairman and CEO, RATP; Guillaume Pepy, chairman, SNCF Executive Board; Olivier Piou, CEO, Gemalto; and Stéphane Richard, chairman and CEO, Orange – announced the creation of Wizway Solutions, a joint venture dedicated to developing contactless mobility solutions.

Wizway Solutions, the world’s first consortium dedicated to contactless mobility, harnesses the expertise of each of its four partners to offer Transport Organising Authorities (TOAs) and transport companies a modern ticketing solution that will facilitate door-to-door travel.

Using mobile devices that are compatible with NFC technology, passengers will be able to purchase all types of tickets – single fares, railcards and more – anywhere, anytime with their carrier’s or TOA’s app, and store these tickets securely on their SIM card. When travelling, passengers will simply pass their cellphones over readers or terminals, or present them to agents checking tickets. A mobile device will suffice for travel, even if it is out of battery or switched off.

The solution offered by Wizway Solutions incorporates two industry standards: Calypso, a contactless international standard that is widely used in France, and NFC (near field communications) technology for mobile phones

The four founding members each hold 25% of Wizway Solutions, which remains open to other operators and carriers. The current timeline calls for its products to be made available to TOAs and transport companies in 2016, and to be deployed in the general public in 2017.