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Covid has definitely been a game changer in mobility. First it brought on a disaster when people stopped moving, and while the hard times are dragging on, it is slowly also triggering changes in thinking, many of which are welcome. One of them is a strong trend towards partnering. The idea of organizing relationships among actors in a field through partnering instead of competition or subcontracting is of course nothing new. Airlines have formed and run successful partnerships for decades. But in ground transportation competition, subcontracting and monopolies have been the standard.

Car brands have been competing against each other, buses have been going against trains and ride-hailing startups have recently challenged taxi companies. Or look at the new kid on the block, eScooters. Different brands are filling street corners each with their own offering. Competition for customers is the game wherever the private sector has a say. Then there are municipal monopolies that often offer several modalities like buses, metros, trams and ferries, but the way these companies are organized is more like an army than an alliance.

And this is where I think the Covid-induced rethinking in many companies comes in.

- Tuomo

About Ticket to Ride

There''s no denying it. It''s been demanding. When you are in the mobility business and people stop moving, you are in dire straits. We are engineers and therefore reorganizing our internal workflow was quick. Making cash flow estimates that make sense, securing financing to bridge the crisis and rethinking our sales strategy to meet the new challenges of our customers has taken a while. 

But rough can be exhilarating too. Survival mode helps you to focus on the right things and rethinking strategy and its execution can be intellectually satisfying. People will not stop moving forever. Once we get to the other side of the crisis, we''re bigger and better than we were before and ready for a growth spurt.

What gives us confidence is that in a few months we got 100 000 new users. Cash is out, mobile payments are in. Cities and operators that do not have modern mobile ticketing infrastructure are turning to PayiQ because with us you can have a covid-resilient smart ticketing system up and running in a few weeks.

- Tuomo

About Ticket to Ride

Banks Are Changing Their Role to Become One-stop Shops

Nowadays we observe how many banks are going through metamorphosis towards high-tech companies with a banking license. Many banks started to apply the term "ecosystem" in their business vocabulary. Big actors are aiming to become serious competitors to one-stop tech companies like Google, Amazon, and Alibaba. At first, this approach was perceived ambiguously by participants in the banking sector. But now it is becoming quite obvious that the chosen strategy is valid and far-sighted. For example, Russian Sberbank ecosystem includes more than 20 companies which are not directly related to the traditional banking business.

One of the focal points for banks' business development is mass transit. Firstly, it is an attractive sector with constant transaction traffic. Secondly, there are no customer acquisition costs. Thirdly, staying within one app gives incredible customer value by saving time, effort, and phone memory from switching between the apps. Lastly, bank by its nature has access to multiple payment tools and that is where the sweet spot is. Bank is capable of creating and using its own e-wallet as a form of payment for mobile tickets or top up of transport card. This allows for independent commission-free position from international payment systems and keeps the money inside the country.

- Elena

About Ticket to Ride