Here comes the train

The Israeli start-up company SAVE A TRAIN It is one of the eight companies that reached the finals of the innovation competition Visa's Everywhere which took place recently

The Israeli start-up SAVE A TRAIN grew out of necessity. The company enables communication between the train ticketing system and the passenger and allows him to enjoy the discounts given even after he has purchased the ticket. SAVE A TRAIN is one of the eight companies that reached the finals of the recently held Visa's Everywhere innovation competition. The participants in the competition were invited to present payment solutions in three categories, using the Visa API interfaces, with the winning teams even getting the opportunity to use them. SAVE A TRAIN competed in the Smart Transportation Solutions category.

In Israel, a fixed rate is used between every two train stations, but abroad, especially in Europe, a train is priced just like a plane, so the price changes from day to day according to demand and supply, promotions and the like. Udi Sharr lived for a while in France and noticed that the prices he paid were always more expensive than those paid by other passengers on the exact same route. "I got angry and that's how the idea was born. How to save for train passengers so that they don't pay more than they need to."

And what does an Israeli do when he gets angry? Establishing a startup. And so the SAVE A TRAIN company was born.

"The estimate of the global railway market is about 160 billion dollars a year, of which - 46 billion dollars in Europe alone." says a muscle. "As in the field of aviation, there are price changes in trains as well. We know how to anticipate how many passengers there will be on each trip as well as do the calculation according to an index of the number of passengers per kilometer traveled - which is what consumers are interested in. We help train operators to increase occupancy and passengers to save."

Sharri adds, "In many cases the railway companies are still government companies and not always the economic interest is the main criterion for the price policy, but also social considerations. There are economies that subsidize train travel to save on building other transportation infrastructure.

"We have developed six products, one of which allows the customer to receive a refund in case the card is discounted after purchasing it. He receives the refund as a credit for the next trip and not in cash, so the system also makes it possible to increase passenger loyalty. We started working with the Italian railway company, TRENITALIA and soon also with the Dutch railway company NS.

"Visa would be happy to enter the hottest market in the world of tourism where online service penetration is low. It's also a market that very few people understand, so it's important for them to find experts in the field who can enter it with a significant foothold." summarizes muscle.

The company is located in Ramat Hasharon, employs seven people and has so far raised half a million dollars from private investors.

Oded Salomi, CEO of Visa in Israel, said: "SAVE A TRAIN was among 8 Israeli companies that advanced to the final stage and competed for the prizes against 7 other young companies from around Europe. The competition was tough, but the contestants stood out with their innovative ideas, advanced technologies and solutions, which will change the way people buy and use money."

Bill Gajda, senior vice president of innovation and strategic partners in Europe, the Middle East and Africa at Visa, said: "We have been looking, and we continue to look, for a wide range of fintech solutions. In places like Tel Aviv, Berlin and London there are many companies that work in these fields.

"Israel is strong in many technologies, not only in everything traditionally related to security. Israel is starting to become a world leader in the field of biometrics and now a vibrant Bitcoin community is also forming there. In general, there are many good fintech companies in Israel that we want to work with and accelerate their development."