The City of Oulu, Finland is working with specialist payment platform, Littlepay to bring tap-to-ride payments, using a contactless card or digital wallet, to its buses. 

The tap-to-pay system is being launched on 15 buses initially and will be introduced to around 200 buses over the coming months. This means that the citys 50,000 bus users can benefit from the convenience and reduced transaction and boarding times that contactless payment brings.

The new contactless system accepts payments made by Visa, Mastercard and Eurocard credit or debit cards, and by Google Pay or Apple Pay digital wallets.

The City of Oulu has created dynamic fare models within Littlepay’s merchant portal, including time-based trips and daily fare caps, to bring extra value and flexibility to public transport users.

For Littlepay, this is the third Finnish city to offer tap-to-ride on public transport, with Littlepay payment processing at the core of its contactless ticketing system. Earlier launches took place in Helsinki and Tampere, and the rollout will continue in other Finnish cities.

“We’re excited about modernising our ticketing and payment system on buses in our city, which will improve the experience of both commuting and leisure travel. We believe quick, easy and safe contactless transit payments will be popular with our residential community and everyone that comes to visit our city” said Public Transport Designer at the City of Oulu, Tomi Paananen.