HOW MPOS IS REVOLUTIONIZING THE EUROPEAN TAXI INDUSTRY
Cash isn’t king for much longer. The transportation industry and taxis in particular, have been held back for too long by expensive payment solutions. They’ve also been restricted by being required to have media solutions and in taxi advertising as part of their offering. With Uber and other cashless taxi services emerging and taking market share – a TfL consultation found that 86% of people and drivers supported the move to cashless payments to level the playing field and improve service.
Since the 31st October 2016, all licensed London taxi drivers have been required by law to accept card payments1. By 1st January 2017, card payment devices were required to be securely fitted in the passenger compartment.
Miura have been facilitating this transformation with a range of flexible payment solutions including the M010. Control is being put back into the hands of the taxi fleet operators, drivers and of course, the consumer.
Here’s a closer look at how mPOS is breathing new life into the taxi industry.
Fairer competition
It’s now as easy to pay for a taxi as it is to pay for an Uber. Consumers no longer need the exact cash in hand before ordering a taxi. No more stop offs at ATMs and tourists don’t need to worry about exchanging cash beforehand.
Time saved
mPOS payments are taken and processed on the spot which saves time on the road. This means more time to pick up passengers and less congestion when stopping to manage a cash payment. Consumers prefer it and it creates repeat business for taxi fleet operators.
Data reporting
Taking cashless payments allows for automated financial reporting. Perfect for taxi fleet operators and government monitoring. Data can be used to calculate the most popular routes and times to improve infrastructure. Consumers can also monitor their spending more accurately.
Security
Using government approved payment devices, means taxi operators can accept payment and tips securely using encrypted transactions that don’t store card data. Cash doesn’t need to be stored anymore, which reduces the chance of fraudulent cash or robbery.
Of course, there are some hurdles to overcome for full European integration of the cashless system. Smaller cities can struggle to offset the purchase of devices when cash is still popular. Hacking is still a concern and innovative players in the taxi space want more bespoke solutions that offer an in-cab payment option as well as app-based payments.
We designed the M010 to disrupt the status quo by removing these barriers. It’s competitively priced to let smaller taxi firms go cashless. To fight the threat of hacking the M010 is a PCI DSS Level 1 compliant device, to keep consumers’ details secure. The M010 even offers a flexible platform that allows taxi firms to have greater control and create more relevant solutions.
fms/Austrosoft
One such firm who is rolling out the M010 for taxi industry is fms/Austrosoft. Based in Austria the European market leader offers an elaborate dispatch system in Europe for more than 30 years. About 155 dispatch centres in 11 countries trust in the unique system solution of fms/Austrosoft. Around 195.000 drivers in 65.000 cars use the modular end-to-end solution.
“We are excited to be driving the adoption of contactless payments in Taxi’s within the European market. We chose to integrate the M010 in our elaborate system due to its competitive price point and modern aesthetics. Those customers who have adopted the M010, have reported an increase in revenues and customer satisfaction driven by the convenience of the cashless system.”
Robert Abel, CEO – www.austrosoft.net
1 Taxi and Private Hire Action Plan (2016), TfL website, accessed on 30th April 2018 [URL] http://content.tfl.gov.uk/taxi-and-private-hire-action-plan-2016.pdf
2 Financial Cards and Payments in Western Europe (February 2018) Passport, accessed via Warc on 14th March 2018
