Fare collection is a reconciliation problem wearing a hardware costume.
The validator is the visible part and the easy part. What decides whether an AFCS deployment works is whether every tap can be traced to a fare rule, a settlement and a bank line — including the taps taken while the device was offline.
What riders pay with, and what reads it.
NCMC
The national common mobility card, as the open-loop scheme it was designed to be — read at gates, validators and handhelds on the same fare rules as every other medium.
QR and UPI
Issued, scanned and validated offline where the network is not there, with a signed token so a gate can trust a ticket it cannot phone home about.
Open-loop cards
EMV acceptance delivered with the acquirer the tender specifies, rather than an acquirer we prefer.
Validators and gates
On-device applications for the hardware actually being deployed, including the offline fare table and the card hotlist.
Handhelds, TVM and TOM
Conductor ticketing, ticket vending and office machines as applications on the specified hardware, with printing and reconciliation.
Wallets and passes
Stored value, travel passes, concessions and fare caps, applied by the same engine wherever the tap happens.
Every tap has to end up somewhere.
Offline first
A validator with no network still takes fares. Taps are buffered on the device and replayed in order on reconnection, with double-spend protection rather than optimism.
Clearing and settlement
Transactions grouped, cleared and reconciled to what the acquirer actually paid, with the difference visible rather than absorbed.
Revenue against service
Fare revenue reconciled to trips run and kilometres operated, which is the number a contract is argued over.
Fare evasion
Boardings against validations, per route and per trip, so evasion is a measurement rather than an impression.
What we do not supply.
Start with the reconciliation, not the reader.
Show us how fares are settled today and where the numbers stop agreeing. That conversation predicts the deployment better than the hardware list does.