Why do you have to have some documents in your wallet, on paper, or on your phone, dematerialized, to take public transport to attend a game or concert? The idea to change this came to Jacky Lamraoui’s mind when he recently lost his wallet. “ I found myself with nothing, no ID, no metro pass, no loyalty card, not to mention the other papers I had with me. “, he recalled. But since all these documents concern one person, why not have centralized support and dematerialization? A wallet system, in short, in which documents can appear, and above all, which can be accessed on any smartphone using identifiers and passwords – even in case of loss, therefore…
Solutions that prevent fraud
This versatile personality, who has launched various digital solutions, including one to verify a person’s age with their identity card and grant them access to certain websites, decided, in 2021, to look for a unique document storage solution. The system, Uniqbillet, the result of start-up Greenbadg, since renamed ID & Lab, based in Marseille, was awarded the award in 2024 by the Propulse jury, a support program for project leaders innovating in mobility from the Transport Innovation Agency (AIT).
In fact, ” This solution not only simplifies the user journey, but the application is also highly secure », argued Jacky Lamraoui. A major advantage if the user has paid the necessary amount to pay for their transport ticket, and even more so, no doubt, if it is a ticket to a concert or sports match. Fraud in this area sometimes creates chaos at the entrance to a room or stadium…” Tickets are linked to a visual identity authentication system, explains the ID & Lab manager and verification is done in the blink of an eye. »
But if the advantages of the Uniqbillet solution and the technological advances that gave rise to the solution are apparent, this does not mean that the adoption of the Uniqbillet solution, throughout France, has occurred without obstacles… This is especially true when it comes to public transport. “ Most mobility operators in metropolitan areas have developed their own solutions, which can only be used locally, and they are in no hurry to combine them into one solution, which will be applicable on different types of transport (train, metro, bus, etc.), and in different cities throughout the country! », Regrets Jacky Lamraoui. In short, national standards in this area have not yet been realized…
And for now, there are still obstacles in implementing these solutions. “ We have support from users but have not yet received support from specific mobility players, although our solution will save resources, both human and financial, for all these players! », added the start-up.
Take the first step with Propulse
Uniqbillet was more successful with event stakeholders and ID & Lab began signing contracts with ticket operators, large event specialists and cultural event organizers. Enough, in the long run, to return to mobility players with examples of success on the pitch… Because Jacky Lamraoui has not said his last words about transport! “ “Being a Propulse winner has given us a great deal of credibility, and I am confident that our current contacts with future partners will ultimately result in contracts,” he said. Moreover, the connections built by the AIT team are starting to bear fruit. The response rate is high and I think we have taken the first step. We are also waiting to be the winner to launch our commercial and marketing efforts. » Determined, together with his four partners, to succeed, Jacky Lamraoui also advised “everyone to apply for Propulse”, especially at a time when the economy is sluggish. And if every entrepreneur has to “show resilience,” he says, the support from AIT certainly gives him peace of mind.
