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The prophet does not yet apply in our own country: the software company Axon Vibe from Lucerne wins another major customer – and again it is not one from Switzerland. Last year, the New York State Transportation Authority, the MTA, launched a public transportation scheduling app powered by Axon Vibe technology and artificial intelligence. Now Deutsche Bahn (DB) and the residents of Central Switzerland are launching a new offer in their app.

It’s about customer loyalty – and apologies. The app issues vouchers from shops in train stations to passengers on delayed trains. One of them is the pretzel baker Ditsch, who belongs to the Valora kiosk group. If a DB train runs with a slight delay, app users who have checked in and are recognized as affected will receive a digital voucher with which they can pick up two pretzels for the reduced price of two euros. For longer delays you will receive a free drink.

Participating retailers can also send digital vouchers to users regardless of delays. These can be restricted so that they only apply during off-peak hours and then improve utilization or only for branches that need more turnover.

Donuts for New York travelers

The app is intended to combine two benefits: DB can apologize to customers for delays – and the dealers come to customers. They are the ones who fund the coupons, as Roman Oberli, president of Axon Vibe, explains in an interview with CH Media.

This is not the first time that Axon Vibe has collaborated with DB. Like SBB partner Fairtiq, Axon Vibe also offers a check-in feature for public transport travel, with rides automatically charged when users check in with their smartphone before starting their journey. The Axon version of the technology is implemented in apps that DB operates for transport associations – for example in Nuremberg or North Rhine-Westphalia.

Oberli has high hopes for expanding such apps with loyalty programs. Such a function should also be activated in the MTA app, which still functions as a beta version. In New York, Starbucks and Dunkin’ Donuts, as well as online retailers, are under discussion. “The test results of the beta version are impressive,” says Oberli. The teething problems have been eliminated. The app will be officially launched soon.

The question about the SBB

Axon Vibe celebrated further successes abroad: Japanese railway company JR East and an app provider in London rely on the company’s technology, which, according to Oberli, turns over a “high single-digit million” per year and aims to be profitable in two years. In addition, another major European region will soon announce the launch of an Axon app.

In Switzerland, however, Axon has so far had to make way for the Bernese company Fairtiq, which provides the check-in function in the apps of the SBB as well as those of the Zurich Transport Association (ZVV) and the Berner Bahn BLS. This is surprising, because SBB is a minority shareholder in Axon Vibe, along with Swisscom and several private investors. The largest shareholders are the company’s founders Stefan Muff and the former Swiss ambassador to China, Uli Sigg. An Axon team works in Lucerne, others in London and the US, and many developers in Vietnam.

Oberli admits that the fact that SBB is not dependent on Axon always raises questions among investors. The residents of Lucerne were about to do just that: in 2019, the railway launched the ‘Smartway’ project, which envisioned an app that would include both the check-in function and a voucher system for station shops. This last function has already been successfully tested with Valora in the “SBB Mobile Preview” app. But then the pandemic came and SBB put the project on hold.

Interested in the Easyride tender

But now Oberli sees a new opportunity. The SBB is retendering the check-in function, known as “Easyride” in its app. “We will certainly look at the tender,” says Oberli. “It’s getting exciting.” The check-in feature is not the core element of Axon’s strategy. “We see invoicing as a task for the public transport sector. But we need trip detection for our apps anyway and that is why we can offer this technology.”

Axon Vibe is particularly interested in apps that not only contain the pure ticketing function, but are linked to other offers – whether digital vouchers or booking other means of transport. According to Oberli, the plan is that in the future, taxis in New York will be able to be booked via the MTA app at night at the normal public transport price – when buses and subways no longer run or run less frequently. A green fund covers the difference with the normal taxi price in the American metropolis. Axon Vibe is also in discussions with a region in Switzerland about such a solution.

Meanwhile, Oberli has no interest in the mobility platform that the cities of Zurich, Bern and Basel are setting up for 18 million francs and which not only offers tickets for public transport, but should also allow the booking of e-scooters, mobility cars or bicycles in one app . Similar projects abroad have failed several times in recent years. “And because the ZVV is not there, the necessary reach for successful implementation is also lacking.”