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How Mersey Tunnels keeps Liverpool on the move with Planet
Small and medium enterprises
How Mersey Tunnels keeps Liverpool on the move with Planet
At a glance
- Transaction times reduced from 12 seconds to four – reducing queues and easing traffic flows
- Over 20,000 customers using Planet’s payments at the tolls daily, out of 80,000 total customers driving through Mersey Tunnels
- One partner for online payments, card present payments and terminals, optimising operational flows
The challenge
Connecting Liverpool to the Wirral and vice versa, the Mersey Tunnels are a vital part of the Liverpool city region’s transport infrastructure. They facilitate the smooth flow of cross river traffic, serving over 80,000 customers daily. Whether it’s to get to and from work, visit family and friends or for leisure tourists or travelling for leisure Mersey Tunnels are essential for the local community to get around quickly and easily.
Handling such a high volume of vehicles means processing thousands of toll transactions every day. To keep traffic moving efficiently, Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, who are responsible for managing the tunnels, were looking for a payment provider capable of delivering fast, secure and seamless contactless transactions. Plus, the new partner needed to meet the highest PCI compliance standards required by Mersey Tunnels.
Once the Combined Authority had chosen Planet, a seamless transition was essential. Planet delivered the solution ahead of schedule, preventing disruption at the toll booths to customers.
The solution
The Combined Authority partnered with Planet to deploy a new payment system on PAX and Verifone terminals, as well as ecommerce payments, ensuring a seamless transition with no disruption to customers. While many providers struggled to meet the necessary PCI compliance standards, Planet guaranteed secure, fully compliant payments from the outset.
Beyond compliance, Planet’s integrated payment solution streamlined operations, consolidating multiple touchpoints into one efficient partnership. By offering a single point of contact, one supplier, and one relationship, Planet simplified operational flows for the Combined Authority.
The result
Transaction times have been more than halved, from 12 seconds to four, reducing queues at peak times and speeding up customers’ journeys through the Tunnels. And the team has heard from customers reaching out to commend the speed and efficiency of the new system.
The new solution with Planet has enhanced the customer experience, with fully contactless payments, enabling both card and NFC transactions without requiring chip and PIN.
Creating efficiencies and positive experiences for customers has an impact on the local community too and making the daily drive to work smoother for thousands of customers. Looking ahead, Liverpool City Region Combined Authority plans to continue to work in partnership with Planet.
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