After a successful test of Check-In/Check-Out across Belgium's railway network in 2020, FAIRTIQ and SNCB | NMBS have agreed to continue to work together in 2021.
The focus of the first phase was testing FAIRTIQ's core technology (journey mapping) among a small group of users. We are now delighted to expand the experiment to a group of 10,000 users in order to fully test the customer journey.
Testing will also extend to new fare products, which have been designed to address the changing mobility needs of rail passengers in Belgium .
In cooperation with the team from the SNCB | NMBS Innovation Lab , the FAIRTIQ app will also be translated into Dutch – a welcome addition to the existing German-, English- and French-language versions of the app.
"After our first successful venture last year, we look forward to extending our proof of concept to a large number of customers as part of a full-scale customer journey test. We strongly believe the FAIRTIQ solution can help us validate some assumptions and further improve customer experience", Stefan Costeur, Digital Sales and Marketing Manager/Head of Innovation Lab @ SNCB | NMBS
FAIRTIQ: Why did you choose to extend the collaboration with FAIRTIQ in 2021?
Stefan Costeur:
SNCB believes strongly in the seamless ticketing solution. We realised a smaller ‘technical test’ in 2020 and that went well. Time to step up and make a more customer driven proof of concept in 2021. The extended collaboration will enable us to test the solution on a larger scale and end-to-end. Gathering customer feedback and insights will be very valuable for us.
FAIRTIQ: What do you value most in the FAIRTIQ solution?
Stefan Costeur:
The flexibility of the solution, the proven track record and the reactivity of the FAIRTIQ team. They think with us and start from the customer experience, just like we do.
The solution is very customer centric and also provides a wealth of information for a company like SNCB.
FAIRTIQ: What are current and future challenges for the SNCB Innovation Lab and how can FAIRTIQ support you?
Stefan Costeur:
Our challenge is threefold : first of all we want to establish one innovation language, so that we all speak the same language regarding innovative projects. Second, we want to boost the innovation culture within SNCB. This by inspiring our colleagues and involve them in our projects and their challenges. And last but not least our main mission is to solve customer needs. Find ways to improve the customer experience of our travellers during their customer journey. Any solution that fits one of these missions … we’re listening !
FAIRTIQ: What are future plans regarding the collaboration between SNCB | NMBS and FAIRTIQ?
Stefan Costeur:
A bit as stated in point 1 and 2. We want to scale up the FAIRTIQ solution and test it in real-life environment with 10.000 customers of SNCB. End to end. We are also looking at the B2B market and would like to see if the FAIRTIQ solution can offer a solution for the increased demand for flexible solutions, boosted by the Covid pandemic.