Insight: Establishing trust in smart cities with transit payments and Open Data

Rapid urbanisation is driving major commercial interest in connected infrastructure. However, public trust remains a major barrier to adoption.

Transit payments and Open Data are two key touchpoints where citizens tend to experience smart city tech directly, with common occurrences such as tap-to-pay on a tram or seeing how anonymised data shapes the services they use.

In this article, we’ll examine how transparent transit payments and responsible Open Data practices can foster trust in smart cities. Helping city leaders, banks, and fintechs scale smart mobility payments without sacrificing broader trust in smart infrastructure.

Why trust is fundamental to smart city success

Smart cities are urban areas where tech and data are deployed to improve the lives of residents through services, and depend on intricate networks of sensors, platforms, and third-party apps to improve the efficiency of services. This can include anything from transportation, energy, and waste disposal. 

Smart cities only succeed when their residents feel that the systems in place are secure, fair, and accountable – the foundation of citizen trust in smart infrastructure.

If general trust is low among the public, the uptake of digital services (e.g., contactless ticketing and app-based mobility) can stall. In some cases, public backlash can force the city into expensive rollbacks.

Building trust in smart cities isn’t simply about preventing breaches through effective governance, but also end-user control and transparent outcomes regarding how data is used to improve services.

Bodies like the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have consistently shown that cities with strong data governance policies are associated with better outcomes across wellbeing metrics, showing that trust and governance are crucial operational levers, and not optional extras.

Transit payments as a trust anchor

Of all the interfaces in smart cities, fare collection systems tend to be the most visible. These touchpoints handle mobility, money, and identity all at once, and the closed-loop vs. open-loop fare collection distinction is closely tied to the public’s perception of convenience and security.

Closed-loop systems that rely on proprietary cards or account ecosystems can offer loyalty benefits, but will also feel restrictive.

Open-loop transit payments, e.g., contactless payments in public transport using bank cards and phones, create stronger interoperability and keep control in the hands of the consumer.

Open-loop systems can also help reduce friction and create greater transparency, as consumers already have a sense of familiarity with bank statements and established dispute processes. 

An analysis by Transport for London showed that “contactless journeys” made up roughly 71% of bus, tube, and rail services.

While rolling out features in the interest of convenience, secure payments must also combine watertight fraud monitoring, EMV-level tokenisation, and transparent refund or chargeback policies to maintain a high level of trust.

Making data work for the public, not just systems

Open Data builds trust when it’s purposeful, privacy-oriented, and regularly accessible. 

According to one projection by the European Union, the Open Data market size in 2025 was estimated to be around €334.21 billion. But value alone doesn’t equal widespread trust.

For smart city residents to have full visibility of what’s being published and why, leaders have to publicise full data inventories, privacy impact assessments, and provenance metadata.

Anonymisation and differential-privacy techniques help cities unlock insights for service planning and traffic management, while limiting re-identification risk, especially when combined with tiered access (public, accredited researchers, and secured APIs).

When smart city bodies publish datasets alongside accessible dashboards and civic use cases, they can turn abstract collections of data into tangible public benefits – for example, improved route frequencies, air-quality alerts, or cheaper concessions. This, in turn, will help reinforce public trust in smart infrastructure, Open Banking and transport integration initiatives that rely on shared and auditable data.

Next steps for city leaders and fintechs

City leaders and fintechs shouldn’t view transit payments and Open Data as isolated entities, but instead as complementary instruments for building trust.

This means deploying open-loop transit payments with EMV tokenisation and definite consumer protections, publishing data with governance frameworks that show clear purpose, retention, and accountability, and baking in citizen controls with consent dashboards and simple opt-outs wherever feasible.

Operationally, leaders must pilot with transparent evaluation criteria (e.g. privacy impact, equity metrics, and fraud rates) and ensure independent auditors and civic boards are included in the process.

It’s also crucial to set standards for fare APIs and data schemas, ensuring that payment processors, banks, and transport providers can all integrate without complex or opaque contracts.

Final thoughts

Open Data and transport payments aren’t simply technical building blocks – they’re also the essential trust mechanisms that make smart cities work.

By favouring open-loop transit payments, maintaining secure payment systems for smart cities, and adopting privacy-first, transparent data policies, cities can move confidently past the pilot stages and help to scale services while putting citizen trust first.

With seamless alignment between tech, policy, and communication, smart cities can deliver the convenience residents expect and earn the digital trust they demand.

Tim Green is deeply passionate about cybersecurity, technology and enjoys covering burning topics for the fintech & SaaS industries. Having specialised in cybersecurity for much of his career, Tim frequently contributes to leading industry publications like Open Banking Expo to share and expand his knowledge and skillset with the wider community.