BGEO wins contract to upgrade Tbilisi metro ticketing system

BGEO Group announced on Tuesday that its banking business subsidiary, JSC Bank of Georgia, won an auction organised by Tbilisi City Hall for the modernisation of the public transportation payment system in Tbilisi, Georgia.

The FTSE 250 company said that as a result, Bank of Georgia would continue as the sole provider of payment support services to the public transportation network, and operate mass retail branches in Tbilisi metro stations for the next 10 years.

It said the bank would pay a total consideration of GEL 22.2m.

“I am delighted that we are further strengthening our leading position in the mass retail segment by maintaining our branch network presence in Tbilisi's public transportation network for at least the next ten years,” said Bank of Georgia CEO Kaha Kiknavelidze.

“Bank of Georgia already has a market-leading digital offering and strongly believes in the benefits of payment business digitalisation.”

As part of the auction mandate, Bank of Georgia would implement a “modern” payment system for the public transportation network in Tbilisi, including payment processing using Visa and MasterCard plastic cards, and create a digital platform for ticket reservations and purchases through mobile phone applications.

“The exclusive right to maintain and upgrade the transportation payment system in Tbilisi is a significant opportunity to further enhance this offering over the next few years,” Kiknavelidze added.