8 july 2021, text: Mirjam Arnold, photo: Deposit
Good-bye to queuing, to expensive weekly passes that you can’t fully utilize and to additional charges like booking fees – Italian start-up MyPass is in the business of creating technology that lets customers enter and pay directly while always paying the best prices. To this end, the fledgling company has developed an efficient booking and payment system. In combination with an innovative service model, the system is already in use across a variety of applications. Customers pay only for what they really use.
MyPass was launched with the goal of making the entire purchasing and reservation process faster and easier. Since 2014, the Italian start-up has been marketing an app-based pay-per-use system under the brand name MyPass Ski. Instead of buying ski passes that are valid for one day or longer periods, winter sport enthusiasts now pay only for the time they effectively spend on the ski slopes. The big advantage is that you no longer have to decide in advance how long you want to ski for and what ticket you need to buy. Queuing up at ticket offices is a thing of the past and the costs – less any student discounts, multi-day rebates, etc. – are charged directly to your credit card.
«Now, more than ever, it’s important to be prepared, organized in every situation, avoiding unnecessary queues and gatherings, and MyPass has been made for this.»
The collaboration between Helvetia and MyPass is highly prized by both sides. A major success achieved early on was a joint insurance solution for winter sport enthusiasts launched in 2019. It covers assistance services as well as the costs incurred as a result of an accident, and also includes consultation and cover in cases of civil law liability and legal expenses. The insurance can be easily activated via the app and is payable only when the customer is actually on the ski slopes and requires it. Over 10,000 policies were taken out in the first year alone. «Thanks to MyPass, Helvetia has been able to provide on-demand daily insurances», explains Davide Storni, Head of Program and Change Management of Helvetia Italy. «An offering that has been much appreciated by the customers, showcasing the potential of new insurance models.»
«The success we built in the ski industry brought us to where we are today, taking on other challenges in tourism and mobility services, fields in which the absence of digitization offers substantial potential for growth», says Guya Paganini, CEO of MyPass. For instance, since spring 2019 tourists in Venice have been able to use the MyPass Venice app to book tickets for museums, concerts and also public transport. They get everything from a single source and pay the official price without any additional charges. In 2019 the start-up also launched MyPass Parking. The new technology crosses the information obtained through a BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) protocol with a series of proprietary algorithms to identify the machine precisely and safely near the access and exit gate while managing all customer payments with a tap. Users can conveniently pay for the actual time they park via their smartphones.
Last summer, MyPass secured patents for a pay-per-use system for skiing applications as well as for its BLE parking technology. Although it was by no means an easy year, CEO Paganini said 2020 was positive in that it gave them the opportunity to improve and develop their services with greater speed. Now, MyPass is looking to expand into other regions and is working on making its technology available outside of Italy. Together with Helvetia, the company is also examining and developing further digital insurance options. For example, after the success of MyPass’s ski insurance solution, the tourism sector looks ripe for the picking as well.