In the news

Adam Smith, Financial Times, 15 Apr 2013

'E-money' challenge for high street banks

 sQuid CEO, Adam Smith, featured in the Financial Times on how E-money is a challenge for high street banks...

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Peter Matthews, EyeforTravel, 11 Apr 2013

The battle hots up but who will emerge winner in the multi-channel payment arena?

EyeforTravel's Ritesh Gupta talks to Peter Matthews about in-store payment solutions and developments in the travel sector. 

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GoCymru, ITSO News, 01 Feb 2013

North Wales national smartcard trial launched

GoCymru, the new Welsh Government funded smart travelcard, started trials in Wrexham and Bangor on January 31.

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Peter Matthews, Transaction World Magazine, 01 Dec 2012

Making Headway with Facebook Commerce

How can businesses treat Facebook connections as friends to facilitate transactions? Specialists believe that if businesses are not ready to engage their customers like friends, they may not be ready for f-Commerce.

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Adam Smith radio interview, 25 Apr 2012

Adam Smith, CEO of sQuid, interviewed live on Talk Radio Europe

Listen to Adam being interviewed by Steve Gilmour from Talk Radio Europe on his radio show.
Steve talks about his experiences of using the Oyster card and how he would like to be able to use it to pay for other things.

Adam explains how this idea formed the start of the 'sQuid journey' and the development of the sQuid eMoney platform.

Listen to the interview >

How I Made It, 11 Mar 2012

How I Made It: Peter Matthews, founder of the sQuid card

Peter Matthews on how Oyster travel cards inspired his corporate smartcard firm, which lets customers pay with a swipe.

Swiping his Oyster travel card at Victoria underground station, Peter Matthews was struck by how simple it was to pay for a journey. That system of money transfer could work elsewhere, he thought.

 

© Times Newspapers Ltd 2012

Smart Cards Trends, 24 Jan 2012

SWSAL selects ACT to deliver a complete ITSO Turnkey Solution

ACT (Applied Card Technologies Limited) has been selected by South West Smart Applications Ltd (SWSAL) to provide a central smart customer and card holder management system and associated ticketing services for the South West region. This fully managed solution provides smartbusiness customers with the tools to effortlessly introduce an integrated smart card ticketing and payment scheme throughout the region, delivering ITSO transport tickets, eMoney and support services across the regional bus and rail transport network.

The Paypers, 04 Jan 2012

Cheshire Integrated Transport Services expands smart card offering in UK

Cheshire Integrated Transport Services (CITS) in partnership with UK-based provider of ticketing systems and services ACT and British contactless payments network operator sQuid has launched a contactless smart card dubbed Charisma available to West Cheshire College and Chester College campuses.

The Times, 07 Dec 2011

The Times ‘The Future of Payments’ supplement

Smart Transactions Group featured in ‘Ones To Watch: 10 of the Hottest Payment Start-Ups in Town’
'Despite a relatively low public profile, Smart Transactions Group is something of a growing powerhouse in the UK payments market. It’s the fruition of a merger in May between Applied Card Technologies, which is very active in transport and tourism-related payments, and digital payments company sQuid. Reportedly it now supplies 85% of the the UK’s smart cards and payments, with its collective customer base accounting for 500,000 payments and 50 million transit transactions every month. Ranked 49 in the Sunday Times 2011 Tech Track 100 league table. It’s seen as one of the fastest growing private technology companies in the UK.'

© Raconteur Media for The Times

City AM, 06 Dec 2011

Opening up the Oyster card beats charging ahead with TfL’s expensive alternative

Last week the London Assembly Transport Committee (LATC) released its report on the future of ticketing in the capital. No big deal, you might think – if you assume the Oyster card seems to function rather well.

ITV, 22 Nov 2011

sQuid loyalty smartcard launched for Bolton Market

Could a simple loyalty card help to save our local markets?
 

A matter of days since it was announced Lancaster Market, which started in the 12th century, looks likely to close, another local market is fighting back.

 

BBC, 22 Nov 2011

BBC reports on sQuid’s loyalty smart card for Bolton Market

The owners of Bolton Market have launched what they say is the UK's first market-based loyalty smart card.
 

The scheme, which is being piloted for six months across 10 traders at the market in Greater Manchester, uses contactless technology to deliver rewards to those who sign up.

 

BBC, 11 Nov 2011

Transport Minister, Norman Baker, launches Southern Rail smartcard using ACT technologies:

A rechargeable smart card alternative to paper tickets is being officially launched on the Southern Railway line between Brighton and Seaford.

A pilot scheme has been under way for nearly a month, with about 100 passengers and railway staff using "the key" and card readers at stations.

Forbes, 23 Jun 2011

Why NFC Alone Won’t Change Mobile Payments

It seems like every day there’s a headline about mobile payments. Yesterday we heard Google had a security problem with it’s NFC Nexus S, last week it was Vodafone, O2 and Everything Everywhere (what a brand proposition to live up to) announcing a U.K. mobile wallet and advertising joint venture.

Near Field Communications World, 30 May 2011

ACT and sQuid join forces to launch NFC and mobile solutions

Two UK firms involved in contactless ticketing and payments have joined forces to launch NFC and mobile phone-based solutions.

Transit specialist Applied Card Technologies (ACT) and digital payments company sQuid have merged under a new corporate umbrella, Smart Transactions Group, in a deal valued at £53.3m (US$87m).

Contactless News, 24 May 2011

sQuid, ACT partner to form Smart Transactions Group

Transit and tourism solutions provider Applied Card Technologies (ACT) and digital payments company sQuid have inked an $87 million deal to form a new corporate umbrella, Smart Transactions Group. 

Techcrunch, 24 May 2011

NFC-ready! Smart payments startups ACT and sQuid in £53.3m merger

There’s a lot of excitement (and hype) at the moment around smart payment solutions, not least in relation to the potential of NFC now that mobile operating systems and handsets are finally supporting the technology. As a result, VC money for startups in the space has been coming thick and fast, while the likes of Silicon Valley-based Jumio and Boku have been getting plenty of attention...

Third Factor, 24 May 2011

sQuid, ACT partner to form Smart Transactions Group

Transit and tourism solutions provider Applied Card Technologies (ACT) and digital payments company sQuid have inked an $87 million deal to form a new corporate umbrella, Smart Transactions Group.

VentureBeat, 24 May 2011

UK payment startups join forces in $87 million merger

2011 seems to be the year that mobile payments go mainstream with everyone from the big mobile carriers and handset manufacturers to scrappy new startups scrambling on to the payments bandwagon...

TheNextWeb, 24 May 2011

UK contactless payment startups ACT and sQuid merge in $87m deal

With high street chains adopting smart card payments, and increasing numbers of devices launching with Near Field Communication (NFC) integration (including rumours that it will be included in the next iPhone), there’s little doubt that contactless technology is set to transform the way we pay for goods and services...