Good news for consumers in the digital age: with the publication of AGCOM resolution 527/16/CONS, the threshold for purchases with Mobile ticketing was raised, from 5 to 12,5 euros. The AGCOM provisions offer a range of opportunities for those who use smartphones and electronic devices for daily purchases.
Unfortunately, the change currently only affects the purchase of travel passes, access to ZTL areas, the purchase of tickets for parking extensions in the blue areas or for car and bike sharing services. On the government front, there is also the reform of the CAD (the digital administration code) which obliges the public administrations to accept digital payments also through telephone credit and the competition bill, now under discussion in Parliament, which will allow, once force, to buy tickets related to the world of entertainment.
The Mobile Ticketing revolution therefore immediately affects public mobility services, which it will be possible to use by sending an SMS to a special number and also through special Apps. The consumer will in fact be able to access the service comfortably from their telephone wherever they are you can find by purchasing your ticket using telephone credit, extending the validity of your stay or reserving your route for future journeys.
The AGCOM resolution marked an important victory in the mobile payment era, facilitating purchases within a noteworthy turnover. According to recent data presented by the Mobile Payment & Commerce Observatory of the School of Management (Politecnico of Milan), the purchase of products and services via mobile phone, through Apps and Mobile sites, grew by 63% in 2016, reaching 3,9 billion.
In fact, payments from mobile phones linked to the world of transport, bus tickets, parking payments, taxis and car/bike sharing have doubled. In 2016 there was an increase of 97%, equal to 90 million euros, in addition to the 300 million recorded in 2015. Thanks to the growth in the offer of these services, over 2016 million bus tickets were purchased in 8 ( 6 million in 2015), 7 million tickets to pay for parking (3 million in 2015) and 10 million rides in car/bike sharing mode (6 million in 2015).
In this scenario of continuous evolution, telecommunications operators are undoubtedly also included, enablers of Value Added Services which, thanks to the contents provided by Content Service Providers, allow the purchase of services that are now part of citizens' daily lives, greatly facilitating their crowded and busy schedule.
"Payment methods alternative to cash are now an integral part of the consumer's daily life.", declares Gian Luca Fantinuoli, President of AssoCSP - a trade association that brings together numerous Content Service Providers, i.e. suppliers of content and value-added services for telephony mobile – “The Italian market in 2016 – he continues – behind the apparent calm, recorded encouraging signs: finally, Italian merchants are showing greater interest in accepting payments by mobile phone and consumers are increasingly intrigued by the opportunities offered. Payments via PC, Tablet and Smartphone in the world of e-Commerce and e-Payment - he concludes - represent the most valuable component in New Digital Payments. Thanks to the development of Mobile Ticketing and thanks to the strong impetus of national institutions towards the diffusion of digital payment instruments, the consumer will be able to take advantage of easy and immediate services".
Payments and the Mobile world are undergoing extraordinary changes, in which all the players involved - merchants, consumers, companies, organizations, governments, guaranteeing authorities - will have to pay close attention to the next and future evolutions.
