Blog
Beyond the Card: What OVpay Signals for the Future of Fare Collection
Annika Kiestra
“The real shift isn’t from one identifier to another. It’s from product-based travel to customer-centric travel, where the transaction, not the ticket, becomes the anchor of mobility.”
— Wido Beekman, CCO, Vayapay
A milestone moment for Dutch mobility
This year, the Netherlands introduced OVpay, a nationwide smart transit system upgrade that allows passengers to check in using their bank card, mobile phone, or wearable device. There are no top-ups, kiosks, or friction.
To the average passenger, OVpay is a welcome convenience. But to public transport operators, it represents something much bigger: a first step to account-based ticketing (ABT).
Behind the tap, the revenue collection is being reimagined, and it’s changing how transport is designed, operated, and experienced.
First, what is Account-based Ticketing?
Account-based ticketing (ABT) changes where fare decisions are made. In an ABT setup, fare logic lives in the back office instead of on the card itself and passengers can travel using a wallet or their bankcard. The card, phone, or wearable a passenger wishes to pay with becomes an identifier. When a passenger taps in, the system looks them up and dynamically applies the correct fare, based on their account entitlements, subscriptions and travel history.
From card-based to account-based: what’s changed
Token-based systems like the OV-chipkaart often store fares and travel rights directly on the card. When operators need to launch new products or correct errors, passengers often have to update their cards manually at a terminal or kiosk. They also have to keep track of balances and expiration dates themselves. The system is rigid; convenient at first, but expensive and inflexible in the long run.
OVpay’s in the account-based ticketing (ABT) model turns that upside down. For operators, this enables:
- Central updates to fare products and discounts
- Seamless inter-operator coordination across regions
- Real-time data on usage patterns and operational gaps
- Faster rollouts of pilots, caps, or concession schemes
This transition also supports mobility as a service (MaaS) models, which combine multiple forms of transit into unified journeys using contactless ticketing.
“What ABT really offers operators is freedom. You get to design fare systems based on what’s best for passengers, not what’s possible with your infrastructure.”
— Wido Beekman
What OVpay gets right, and what it sets in motion
OVpay doesn’t require users to carry an additional smartcard in fact, it doesn’t require a new token or card at all. Passengers can simply use what’s already in their wallet or on their wrist.
This flexibility is more than just good experience; it’s the hallmark of a system built on globally supported infrastructure.
By decoupling fare logic from physical media, OVpay:
- Reduces travel friction for less frequent travellers
- Lowers operational costs tied to hardware maintenance
- Enables new models like pre- and post-paid travel
- Sets the foundation for interoperability across mobility services and countries
And while the rollout is specific to the Netherlands, the principle applies globally: build around accounts, not devices. This represents the evolution of tap-and-go travel into a scalable, adaptable system that reduces physical dependencies.
The invisible layer: payments as infrastructure
Behind every tap is a transaction. Behind ABT is a fundamental question: Can you securely recognise a passenger, apply the correct fare, and process that payment, no matter how or where they tapped?
That’s the challenge Vayapay is built to solve.
We work with public transport operators and integrators to manage the payment layer that ABT depends on:
- Tokenisation of identifiers and bank accounts into a single anonymous passenger profile
- A modular, omnichannel platform that unifies retail, app, online and transit payments
- Revenue protection tools that detect fraud based on behaviour and history and not just device ID
Three takeaways from OVpay
For operators thinking about fare transformation, OVpay offers a clear blueprint. Here’s what stands out:
- Start with user convenience, but build on flexible infrastructure
- Make payment systems strategic, not secondary
- You don’t need to go all-in at once. ABT can scale in stages
“We’ve seen too many operators forced to choose between flexibility, accessibility and control. With the right payment partner, you don’t have to compromise.”
— Wido Beekman
Final thought
OVpay proves that pay as you go travel redefines what passengers expect from transit.
The opportunity for operators? Learn from the shift. Build for flexibility. And treat payments as the first building block, not the last.
About XPP’s Vayapay
Vayapay is a payment platform from XPP, designed for public transport. We help operators create frictionless, future-ready automatic fare collection systems through secure transaction management, advanced tokenisation, and omnichannel infrastructure. With deep roots in financial services, not fare engines, we focus on making the payments layer work smarter, so passengers can simply tap and go.
