The SNCF Connect application opens up to public transport

The group's application can now be used to buy and validate tickets directly with a smartphone in 22 medium-sized French cities. This opening foreshadows the group's ambitions towards more multimodality.

THE FACTS

• The offer is currently deployed in Angoulême, Annecy, Arras, Avignon, Beaune, Belfort, Bourgoin-Jallieu, Caen, Cholet, Cognac, Draguignan, Evreux, Guérande, Les Sables d'Olonne, Maubeuge, Menton, Montbéliard, Nevers, Saint-Brieuc, Saint-Lô, Saint-Nazaire and Saintes. SNCF Voyageurs, promising to "integrate new towns and cities" in the coming weeks.

• SNCF Connect also offers, for the majority of Android smartphone owners, to take charge of some of the tickets of the Île-de-France Mobilités network, including weekly or monthly Navigo subscriptions, bus tickets to airports or the simple t+ ticket.

• The service, which is being rolled out in conjunction with the start-up company airweb, allows users to buy their local transport ticket (single ticket, booklet, package or periodical pass), validate it by scanning a QR code when boarding and then present it to the driver or ticket inspector, the company said.

• SNCF Connect, which was launched in January 2022 but was plagued by numerous bugs, claims to have had 1 billion visits in one year, with 520,000 tickets sold each day on average.

• Since September 2022, SNCF Connect has been offering two new payment solutions - the Betterway and Swile cards - which have now been joined by the ALD Move and Worklife cards. Holders of these cards can now buy their eligible transport tickets or season tickets directly on SNCF Connect.

CHALLENGES

• Developing multimodality: "This new service on the SNCF Connect application is an illustration of our desire to support the French from end to end for all their travel needs," commented Anne Pruvot, Director General of SNCF Connect & Tech. A person from Caen can book a trip to Paris by TER and buy a t+ ticket from the Île-de-France Mobilités network via SNCF Connect to travel by metro in Paris, or even an Orlybus or Roissybus ticket if they want to go to the airport.

• Encouraging ever more sustainable home-work journeys: SNCF Connect also offers new payment solutions, allowing employees to use the Crédit Mobilité and Forfait Mobilités Durables, which are increasingly popular with companies.

PUTTING IT INTO PERSPECTIVE

• For several years, mobility has become the catalyst for numerous initiatives, whether they come from groups already invested in mobility or from others such as banks, which have an interest in it through financing and leasing.

• At the end of last year, the four major French banks (BNP Paribas, Crédit Agricole, Société Générale and BPCE) announced strong measures to develop in this vertical.

• In the UK too, becoming a mobility super-app is attracting banking players, such as Lloyds, which has just entered into a partnership with Caura, a startup that develops payment services to facilitate the journey of motorists.

• American tech players are also on the lookout. Apple, in particular, is banking heavily on its Apple Pay Express payment system, which allows users to pay using Open Payment without even having to unlock their phone.