From July 1st 2015 Citadele bank issues their payment cards with e-talons e-ticket.
The Citadele bank has created an innovative change – to use a payment card simultaneously as an e-ticket, registering trips in the public transportation of Riga in the same way as with a standard e-talons e-ticket.
From July 1st 2015, this card is available to every resident of Latvia. The passengers will pay the trips at the lowest price possible corresponding to their travel frequency.
Rigas Karte is proud to have teamed up with the Citadele Bank which is the first in the Baltics that offers this innovative solution, adjusting the classical payment card to an existing public transportation payment system.
This is a new and easy way for paying for public transports, not only in Riga, but in all Latvia, as Citadele is the bank with the largest number of offices over Latvia.
The new card combines the functions of a payment card and an e-ticket. Thus, entering the public transportation of Riga, the owner of the card can register the trip exactly as with standard contactless cards or tickets, by approaching the bank card to the validator. There is no need to purchase any e-talons e-ticket or card before, nor to reload it. The price of the trip will be debited from the passenger’s bank account the next day, and each time the debited amount will be calculated in order to give the best tariff to the passenger. The more he or she will travel, the less each trip will cost, until reaching the monthly pass value which is the lowest fare for frequent travellers.
This card can be used to conveniently pay for trips in any vehicle of “Rīgas satiksme” in the city of Riga – in a bus, trolleybus, tram, as well as minibuses of “Rīgas mikroautobusu satiksme”.
The Citadele/e-talons card combines the characteristics of the international payment card MasterCard and the e-ticket. It can be used for payments at points of sales and on the Internet, depositing money in account and withdrawing money form ATM, for paying trips in Riga public transportation, and it is possible to apply a credit limit to it.
Additionally to the function of e-ticket, the owner of this card will receive all other advantages that the Citadele bank provides. Without additional payment, each owner of the new card will receive an American Express payment card that will allow to access the discounts of the SELECTS programme and other advantages.
A card for a more comfortable daily life of the residents of Latvia
“We are working purposefully so that along with the services of the bank we would offer our customers added value to each of our most important products. Already until now we have been taking care so that the Citadele payment card for customers would not be just a card but included various advantages and special offers. Now we have taken another step forward, keeping up with the world trends in technology, and supplemented the advantages offered by the payment card with another function – e-ticket for even more convenient payment for using public transportation. This solution will be useful for both those who use public transportation in Riga daily, as well as those who use it more rarely,” says the chairman of the board of the Citadele bank, Guntis Beļevskis.
He points out, “Introducing a payment card with e-ticket, we want to make the daily life of the residents of Latvia more convenient. Using the Citadele card with the function of e-ticket in the public transportation of Riga, there is no need to worry about buying an e-ticket or purchasing a ticket before the trip. If you have the new Citadele payment card with the function of e-ticket in your wallet, the public transportation of Riga can be used at any time.”
One of the first to check how the Citadele payment card with e-ticket works in real life was the actress from Valmiera Drama Theatre, Regīna Devīte, “I use the public transportation of the capital city often because I come here every week to participate in the filming of a TV series. The payment card with e-ticket is definitely more convenient to use for me because you don’t have to replenish it in a kiosk or worry about how many trips are left. I have entered transportation before without an e-ticket or small change, but the payment card is always with me – I beep it and ride!”
The most favourable rates will be automatically applied
With the new Citadele payment card, the price for one trip in “Rīgas satiksme” transportation will be 1.15 euros, which is the same price as for purchasing ticket for one trip in advance. The payment card with e-ticket will register the trips during one calendar month and automatically apply the same discounts as for e-ticket bought in advance for a certain number of trips or a monthly pass.
Fare concessions do not apply to this card (pre-school children, orphans, disabled people, politically repressed people, members of the national resistance movement, general education students etc.)
According to the data of “Rīgas satiksme”, until now the ticket is bought from the driver of the vehicle for 2 euros by on average 95 000 – 100 000 people each month. From now on residents will not have to buy the ticket from the driver at an increased price or search for a place where a ticket for prepayment price can be bought, if they have the new Citadele payment card with the e-ticket function.
The Citadele payment card with e-ticket is useful also for those who use public transportation often and purchase monthly tickets. After each registered trip, the number of trips is recorded in the payment card – if their total value during the calendar month reach the price of a monthly ticket, then for other trips in the same month no payment will be charged.
The usefulness of the payment card with e-ticket has been taken into account for those passengers of public transportation who use it 10 or 20 times a month as well. For example, registering 10 trips with transport, for each trip the price is 1.15 euros, but for the tenth trip – 0.55 euros. Thus the total price of ten trips is 10.90 euros, which corresponds to the e-ticket price for 10 trips.
To apply for the payment card with e-ticket, simply go to www.citadele.lv, or go on the Internet banking or call the 24-hour customer support centre at 6 701 0000, or enter in any branch of Citadele in Latvia.
About the Citadele bank
Citadele is a local bank of Latvia that offers banking, finance and capital management services. The main market of the Citadele group is the Baltic States Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia. The Citadele bank is the exclusive American Express® cooperation partner in Latvia and Lithuania that has the right to issue American Express payment cards. 75% plus one share of the Citadele bank belongs to the investment company “Ripplewood Advisors LLC” and an international investor group. The other shareholder of the bank is the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development which owns 25% minus one share. More information on www.citadele.lv
