Newsroom

Snapper 6 Month Update.

Wellington, 27 October 2010.

Key Operating Metrics

• Issued Snapper cards increased from 120,000 at 1 April 2010 to over 135,000 as at 30 September.

• Snapper has processed 10 million transactions in this period compared to 7 million transactions in the same period last year, an increase of 43% compared to same period last year.

• Retailers that now accept Snapper have increased from 200 to over 230.

• Snapper deployed into 700 taxis in the Wellington market, with the major taxi company in Wellington now accepting Snapper. This more than doubles the locations where customers can use Snapper.

• Total permanent staff numbers at 35, up from 23 at 1 April.

Product Highlights

• Snapper, in partnership with Smartpay and TaxiCharge, has developed an in-taxi solution for payment by Snapper. This is now deployed on more than 700 taxis in the Wellington region. The launch has met with strong interest from other regions and taxi companies.

• Snapper has released a new range of Snapper devices in a range of form-factors that include the Snapper Mini and the Snapper Sprat. Sales of both devices are encouraging based on form factor and convenience.

• Snapper has developed the MySnapper application for online top-ups, balance checks and travel pass sales. This brings the ability to complete the full range of these transactions on all compatible Mac and Windows based PCs.

• Snapper has redeveloped its website www.snapper.co.nz for increased ease of access to key information, a new on-line store for product purchases, and a fully featured Newsroom area for the latest information and news from Snapper.

• Snapper now offers an all-in-one unit for Public Transport operators, significantly reducing the maintenance costs of Snapper hardware on vehicles.

• 30 day travel passes have been developed for GO Wellington, Valley Flyer, Runcimans and the Airport Flyer. Over 2000 passes have been sold since becoming available in late September.

• Snapper has developed and released a self-service kiosk for top-ups and balance checks. This is now in four locations around Wellington.

Company News

• The team at Snapper were proud to receive the CyberGold award recognising innovation in technology at the annual Wellington Gold Awards.

• Snapper has sponsored the Wellington Richter City Roller Derby season. An average of 2,500 fans have attended each of the three bouts held at TSB Arena. Snapper has been available for ticket purchase and at the food and beverage concessions at TSB Arena, significantly reducing queue times for these heavily supported events. This partnership has successfully proven Snapper’s ability to manage high intensity queues and we expect this to lead to further opportunities in the events category.

• Snapper continues to participate in the National Integrated Ticketing standards which are developing the framework for different ticketing systems and regional authorities to work together. Initial deployment of standards compliant systems is expected in 2011.

• Snapper recently participated in the Asia Pacific Smart Card Association forum on revenue collection. Feedback from other smartcard system operators is that Snapper is seen to be leading the way with its fast moving and flexible model that does not rely on government funding. This is particularly true in the use of online products such as MySnapper for pass sales and top-ups. Snapper’s response to the recent issue where some customers were incorrectly charged penalty fares also drew an observation from the Chairman of APSCA as the best response to this type of error he had seen in his time in the industry.

• Snapper has had a strong presence at a number of industry conferences in New Zealand over the period including:

1. Bus and Coach conference in Dunedin
2. Taxi Conference in Rotorua
3. Hospitality Association Conference in Auckland

• There is strong interest in Snapper’s proposition with all parties remarking on the speed, convenience and ease of use.

• Greater Wellington Regional Council has mandated a range of price changes for public transport in Wellington. The net effect of this is that for the most part prices when paying by Snapper have increased by only the change in GST – with the exception of the city section fare. Cash fares have increased by significantly more resulting in the Snapper discount increasing from 20% to up to 30% in some cases. Early indications are that this has driven a further increase in Snapper usage.

Summary

Snapper continues to experience strong growth.  Growth in transactions is particularly strong, up 43% compared to the same period last year. It is pleasing to see transaction use outpace card growth as this is the strongest indicator that the Snapper proposition provides value and convenience to everyday customers. Snapper is now consistently greater than 60% of the share of transactions on bus when compared to cash. We expect this growth to continue as a result of the recent changes in fare policy from GWRC which saw Snapper’s discount to cash significantly increase from 20% to up to 30% in some cases.

The recent launch of new products in the form of taxis and passes have already indicated additional growth with pass sales in particular very pleasing. We expect this to continue as more customers become aware of the convenience benefits of these products. Snapper has a strong product pipeline underway and we expect that these will lead to further growth opportunities in the second half of this financial year.

We are especially pleased in our ability to attract and retain high quality people in key roles for Snapper. Snapper has developed a strong team that is driving these market and product developments, while providing high levels of service and support in a period of intense growth. We expect to be developing the team further over the coming period in line with our growth plans.

About Snapper.

Snapper has created a brand new payment category in New Zealand, based on small value payments using contactless smart media.

Over 135,000 Snappers have been issued, generating over 29 million transactions, across over 400 buses, 700 taxis, and hundreds of retailers in New Zealand.

Snapper offers customers integrated ticketing and instant small value payments. The Snapper system is 99.99% accurate, providing valuable journey data that can be used to plan better transport services for passengers.

Snapper Services Limited was formed in 2006 and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Infratil Limited. Snapper launched in 2008, has offices in Wellington and Auckland, New Zealand, and employs over 40 people.

Ends

Issued by Snapper 27/10/10.

For more information, photography, to arrange an interview please phone:

Miki Szikszai, Snapper Services Limited, 027 4464 303.

snapper.co.nz