TRANSDEV and CAISSE d’EPARGNE announce they have signed an outline agreement to pool their expertise in developing innovative offers targeted at customers using urban public transport.
This agreement is the first of its kind to be concluded on a national level and phase one will see customers that use the networks operated by the TRANSDEV Group offered the facility to top up their travel card at Caisse d’Epargne ATMs. As a second stage, a contactless bank card integrating TRANSDEV networks’ transport application, will round off the scheme. This 2nd innovation is looking ahead to the banking world’s current move to open up to contactless payment methods.
Other business tie-ups are planned with regard to future investments dedicated to developing transport networks.
Through this agreement TRANSDEV reaffirms its commitment to develop solutions that make customers’ lives easier whilst expanding its service package, both in terms of access to the network itself and in terms of payment methods (top-ups, distribution and sales). A number of networks in the TRANSDEV Group have already expressed their interest in these new services and are looking into bringing them in.
Joël Lebreton, Chairman and CEO of the TRANSDEV Group: “Our two groups share the same culture providing a service to local authorities. Thanks to the innovations which this outline agreement is able to offer up, we will be able to meet the requirements of Transport Authorities always on the look-out for solutions to make using public transport easier, by offering them sales channels which increase ease of use, whilst reducing the costs of distributing travel tickets.”
For Caisse d’Epargne, this outline agreement will allow it to forge strong commercial links with a world leader on the transport market and reinforce its network’s firm foothold amongst elected representatives, local authorities and local institutional players through the projects which will be introduced.
Alain Lemaire, Director and CEO, Caisses d’Epargne BPCE: “Caisse d’Epargne, a key banking player in regional development and a leading financial backer in this field, shares a tradition of commitment to local authorities alongside the TRANSDEV Group. This outline agreement allows us to confirm our role as local bankers, capable of bringing in innovations to serve the current concerns of elected representatives acting in the interests of the people living in their territory.”
By pooling their strengths in the field of developing urban public transport in France and Europe, TRANSDEV and Caisse d’Epargne also intend to play a part in meeting one of the objectives of the Grenelle de l’environnement [Environment Round Table], which is to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 20% by 2020.
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The Caisses d’Epargne:
a banking network actively helping local elected officials to find solutions for transport-related issues.
Building on their strong local presence, the 17 regional savings banks, represented at a national level by BPCE, their central institution, are the banking partners of both private- and public-sector entities working in favor of local development.
Acting as the preferred banking institutions of regional decision-makers and as benchmark players in the local government market, the Caisses d’Epargne work with all local authorities and institutions irrespective of the scale of the projects and the entity initiating them (municipalities, intermunicipal bodies, regions, local public organizations, etc.).
In 2009, as in 2008, the Caisses d’Epargne confirmed their position as key players in the financing of local and regional authorities with a market share of 1/3 of new fund flows and a loans outstanding position of almost 37 billion euros at the end of June 2009.
On behalf of the Caisses d’Epargne, Groupe BPCE has forged partnerships with all the associations representing local elected officials (AMF, AMGVF, ADF, ARF, ACUF, etc.) including, notably, the Groupement des Autorités Responsables de Transport (GART) with whom it works closely, in its capacity as a banking institution providing funding for major local public transport initiatives, to optimize the conditions under which financing is provided for transport infrastructure projects in France. In this area, the Caisses d’Epargne have also developed know-how and specific expertise in public-private partnerships, a field where the French savings banks enjoy the status of front-ranking players (BPCE is the financial partner of the TRANSDEV Group for the Rheims tramway concession).
About the TRANSDEV Group
- TRANSDEV, a subsidiary of Caisse des Dépôts, is the 4th largest private operator of public transport in Europe.
- With 10 tramway networks (Grenoble, Madrid, Montpellier, Mulhouse, Nantes, Nottingham, Orléans, Strasbourg, Tenerife, Utrecht), 1 network under construction (Reims), and 2 light rail metros in operation (Porto, Genoa), TRANSDEV is a world leader in this market.
- Leadership that extends to green forms of transport such as car sharing, car pooling and cycling.
- Present in 9 countries, in Europe, Canada and Australia, TRANSDEV provides transport for more than 2 billion passengers every year.
- The Group manages a fleet of more than 20,000 vehicles, including 16,000 coaches and buses, 500 tramways, 90 metro units, 30 trains, 110 trolley buses, 50 river shuttles and 4,000 transport on demand vehicles, a market in which TRANSDEV is the European leader.
- Transdev applies its expertise to three complementary areas: operating transport networks, setting up and managing major projects, and providing passenger services.
- In 2008 the Group managed a turnover of 3.3 billion euros and employs over 46,000 people.
- TRANSDEV relies on its global transport chain and its unparalleled experience of public-private partnerships to support local communities with their projects.
(persbericht Transdev)