Citadele is the first bank in the Baltic States to offer such a solution, adjusting a payment card to the payment system used in public transport.

The new product combines the functions of the payment card with those of e-ticket. Thus, having entered a Riga public transport vehicle, the holder of the payment card may register the trip by approaching the card to a validator, which means that no additional ticket or e-ticket is necessary.

With this card, you can pay for your trips conveniently in any public transport vehicle operated by  „Rīgas satiksme” in the city of Riga, including buses, trolleybuses and trams, as well as minibuses operated by “Rīgas mikroautobusu satiksme”.

The card combines the features of the MasterCard international payment card and e-ticket. It can be used both for payments in trade outlets and on the Internet, for paying money into an account and taking money from ATMs, as well as for paying fare in Riga public transport. There is also a possibility to set a credit limit.

In addition to the e-ticket’s function, the holder of the card will get all other advantages provided by bank Citadele. Any holder of the new card will also get, without additional charges, an American Express payment card, which will give access to special discounts of the SELECTS programmes and other bonuses.

A card to make everyday life of Latvians more comfortable  

“We are working purposefully to offer our clients added value in each of our key products along with banking services. We have cared so far for Citadele payment card to be not just a card, but also to include various advantages and discounts. Now we have made one more step further following trends in the world of technologies, and added yet another function to the range of advantages offered by the card – the function of e-ticket to make payments in public transport more convenient. This solution will be useful both for those who regularly Riga public transport daily and those who use it rarely,” Guntis Beļavskis, chairman of the board in bank Citadele, says.

He notes: „By introducing the payment card with e-ticket’s function, we want to make the everyday life of Latvians more convenient. When using Citadele card with e-ticket’s function to pay fare in Riga public transport, you should not worry either about buying a ticket or e –ticket before the trip. If you have a new Citadele payment card with e-ticket’s function in your wallet, you can use Riga public transport at any time.”

“„Rīgas satiksme” is satisfied as passengers get wider opportunities to pay for public transport conveniently. In case of Citadele payment card, passengers will not have to care about buying tickets and choosing a ticket before the trip. Therefore, it may be considered a modern, customer focused payment system,” says Leons Bemhens, chairman of RP SIA „Rīgas satiksme” board. 

One of the first clients having tested how Citadele payment card with e-ticket works, was Regīna Devīte, an actress of Valmiera Drama Theatre: “I use very often public transport in Riga, as I come here for filming a serial. The payment card is certainly more convenient to use, as you needn’t to reload it in a kiosk or worry about the number of remaining trips. Earlier I used to enter public transport and found out that I had neither an e-ticket, nor small change, but the payment card is always with me – I just register the trip and that is all!” 

As data of „Rīgas satiksme” for the last three months show, some 276 000 passengers use single tickets monthly and almost as many use two-trip tickets. Tickets for 10 trips are also popular and are used 77 000 times per month on the average, but tickets for 20 trips are used 45 000 times. Just to compare: every month monthly tickets are bought by 53 000 passengers and the ticket for EUR 50 for all means of transportation is bought by 8 600 passengers only. 

Most advantageous tariffs are applied automatically

With the new Citadele card, the price of one trip in „Rīgas satiksme” public transport will be EUR 1.15, which is the same when a ticket is bought in advance. The payment card with e-ticket’s functions will count the number of trips per month and will apply the same discounts which exist for a certain number of trips and monthly tickets.

Fare discounts granted to children of preschool age, minor orphans, disabled persons, victims of political repressions, participants of national resistance movement, pupils of general educational institutions etc are not applied to the new card.

As data of RP SIA „Rīgas satiksme” show, some 95 000 – 100 000 passengers buy tickets from driver for EUR 2.00. Now, with the new Citadele card with e-ticket’s function, passengers will not have to buy tickets from driver for a higher price or to look for place where tickets can be bought at prepay price.

Citadele card with e-ticket’s function is also advantageous for those who use public transport frequently and buy monthly tickets. The number of trips is fixed by the payment card after each registered trip – if their total price in a calendar month reaches the price of a monthly tickets, then the rest of the trips in this month will be for free. 

The developers of the card with e-ticket’s functions also thought about those passengers who use public transport 10 or 20 times per month. For example, EUR 1.15 is deducted from the account for each registered trip, but the price of the 10^th trip is EUR 0.55. So the total price of 10 trips will be EUR 10.90, which is equivalent to the price of an e-ticket for 10 trips. 

The payment card with e-ticket’s functions may be applied for on Citadele website at www.citadele.lv, in the Internet-bank or hotline 6 701 0000, as well as in any Citadele branch across Latvia. 

About bank Citadele

Citadele is a local Latvian bank offering banking, financial and capital management services. The key markets of Citadele group are Baltic States – Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. Citadele is exclusive partner of American Express® in Latvia and Lithuania with the right to issue American Express payment cards. 75% + one Citadele share belong to investment company “Ripplewood Advisors LLC” and a group of international investors. The second shareholder of the bank is the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development with 25% - one share. Further information: www.citadele.lv