It will soon be possible to pay by QR for fares in Grodno public transport as well

The OPLATI system from the IT company LWO-resident of the HTP and Belinvestbank is already successfully operating in the regions. To buy a ticket, one needs to download the OPLATI application, open the scanner in it, and point at the QR code placed in the bus cabin. The ticket in electronic form will be instantly displayed in your smartphone, one click and the payment is done. It is also easy to check the availability of the ticket.

The passenger scans the QR code of the controller via an app, and the purchased ticket with the status ‘Paid’ appears on his smartphone. The money is instantly transferred from the passenger to the fleet’s account without intermediaries. No special expensive devices, validators are needed for this purpose. Only a sticker with a QR code in the bus and the passenger’s smartphone are enough.

NewGrodno.by asked the developer of the OPLATI programme who benefits from this and how secure the money in the passenger’s electronic wallet is. LWO director Oleg Kondratenko gave details. The OPLATI project was announced six months ago. What does this system represent today? In September, we only announced the application – the first stage of the launch was P2P transfers, payment via ERIP, chat.

This was our basic level. And in January, the results of several months of work became visible: payment for transport in the regions appeared. If we take the percentage growth, everything is right – there is exponential growth, but if we look at absolute figures, we still have only tens of thousands of downloads, and significantly less than our first goal – the level of 100 thousand users.

The growth is sufficient for the first few months, but the development plans are much higher. Plastic cards in our country have travelled their way for 20 years. Now there are about 15 million cards in Belarus. Considering that some people have two or three at least, and some have more than a dozen. ‘Oplati’ cannot have such a number of users, because even if there are several phones as a means of payment, each of us is the only one in our system. “Pay. Transport” is not a separate application, but a part of the ecosystem of the whole country. And a very successful part. It is already in operation in Borisov and Gomel, Vitebsk and Mogilev.

What are the reviews? 90% are good, very good, constructive. We get a lively response – people actively offer their ideas, express different opinions – there is a real change in the plans for the development of the system even in the near future. But even now, no system in the country will allow you to buy an electronic ticket, pay for goods in a shop, choose from the menu of a café and pay for lunch with friends (with minimal distraction of waiters, or even without them for ordering and payment)… and even at a distance between the cashier and the buyer of even more than 1.5-2m. Which is now very relevant. – The QR fare payment system is about to be introduced on public transport in Grodno, what will change for our passengers? – First of all, it will become more convenient to pay for the fare with the application – there is no need to look for a conductor, or change to buy, or a composter – you can find a QR with your eyes, scan it from a metre or two, pay for the ticket in one touch and spend only a second or several seconds even in a moving bus. – Unlikely, but there is a concern that there will be queues on the bus at the QR stickers? – I’d be delighted if someone tried this! It would mean a real exponent of growth in our user numbers. In a bus or trolleybus there are enough stickers with the code – even on the windows, even on the ceiling – qr is read almost instantly and with a very wide scanning angle, and even the structure of the code is additionally optimised to speed up the result – the purchase of a ticket. – How secure is the system and ready for ‘hares’ tricks. For example, to send a photo of a ticket via vyber or to transfer a mobile phone so that several people could show the purchased ticket to the controller? How will it be controlled at all?

Sending a photo over wyber is like showing a picture of a banknote at the cash register. The prankster will have to pay the price. Those who think that conductors or solution developers are children will change their minds after the first attempt to cheat – they should remember that honest is better than greedy. You can try to present one ticket for several passengers, but only the controller, as it should – the first one will say thank you, and the rest will present the bill for payment. After all, there were once skilful people who printed money on printers… but their fate was… unattractive. – This system of payment in Hrodna transport, probably, as in other cities, will appear only on a few routes. Why not introduce it everywhere at once, because it’s simple – stickers and off you go? – You are right – you print out the stickers, stick them on and go on the road. I hope that in a few weeks every unit of transport in Grodno will work with a cashless payment channel. Here it is important not only the intention of fleet managers, but also their peace of mind – for many of us this is a new technology. I’m sure – our Belarusian ‘memurkounasets’ is super good not to cut wood… but sometimes brings temporary delays in some steps.

The latest technologies bring not only convenience, but also, sometimes, unexpectedly strong changes in people’s minds. And now the created services are similar to the transition from landline phones of the 80s to mobile phones of the 21st century. – What are the plans to introduce ‘Pay’ in transport in other cities of Grodno region? – The most serious – the planned list of car fleets for the beginning of the work is replenished and replenished with new organisations – we strive to fulfil all requests of our potential partners as quickly as possible – in a number of cities even in the test ticket sales are close to 1000 per day. – Do the car fleets themselves show interest or is it directive? What are their benefits? Are there any commissions when paying for the fare, will the use of OPLATI not make the fare more expensive?

We have started and are only working with those who are willing. After all, there is a clear plus for the fleet – there is no payment for acquiring or for our service – except really 1 rouble for a permanent licence for each fleet. And payment to the bank – 20-61 rubles (depends on the tariff plan) per month for all-all-all services. Well, if a fleet of 250 vehicles pays even 61 rubles, it will be as much as 25 kopecks per bus and not one, not even a fraction of a kopeck on top. We promote the ‘Oplati.Transport’ project as part of our strategy – just a vision of our picture of the future, in which every business chooses its own development paths and assumes full responsibility – both commercial and social parts of it. In this case, ‘Pay.Transport’ as a service is conceived with almost zero cost of ownership for fleets and zero for passengers. Our monetisation is different – we replace American payment systems with ours wherever possible, and use the money we save to develop and grow the service.

In some cities OPLATI can be used not only to buy tickets in transport, but also to pay for goods in shops and services in the same beauty salons or hairdressers. Will Grodno develop this service beyond buses? – Absolutely – otherwise we would not be able to supply a fleet licence for a ruble – after all, nothing in life is free – you have to pay for everything. In the process of building this part of the ecosystem, we intend to reduce payments to foreign payment services and get a part of this saved amount. Everything here depends on the share of payment transactions that our citizens will make through our service – and then we will collect the resources we need to make something free in our country. And the convenience and security will be at a higher level. Our laboratory and information security products are among the strongest in the country and neighbouring countries. Such a comprehensive approach is not available in our country or in the neighbouring countries of our allies and partners. We are not facing the tasks of immediate profit, but the issues of strategically needed opportunities and functionality in the future. – How reliably protected are the finances stored on the e-wallet and why is Belinvestbank your partner in this project? Tell us about the mechanism of funds circulation in the Oplati.

We are only the system operator, and the electronic money in the system is issued by Belinvestbank OJSC. That is, when you transfer money from a card or account of any bank to your electronic purse, the bank credits your money in accordance with the rules of the National Bank of our country, and in the machine emitting electronic money simultaneously puts it in your purse and they are online available to you as for payment for any goods and services, and for transfers to friends or fulfilment of any other purposes intended by you. As a partner we simply chose Belinvestbank OJSC, which now has the highest level of information system development. The system of this bank is not only the most powerful in terms of performance centralised three-level information system in the country – it is also an ecosystem with a number of unique opportunities, and also one of the most secure. And, of course, we have a common advantage in our country – our every ruble, our every penny is protected by law.