From Cash to Smart Mobility: Why Algeria’s Transport Overhaul Must Go Digital

How digital ticketing and payments can turn reform into everyday reliability for Algerian passengers

Public transport plays a huge role in daily life in Algeria. In Algiers, ETUSA operates nearly 1,000 buses across around 150 routes, while the tramway and metro together carry hundreds of thousands of passengers every day, according to the UITP MENA Transport Report 2025.

People depend on these systems, yet fares are still largely paid in cash. Drivers and ticket inspectors handle coins and paper notes, paper tickets remain common, and operators rarely have a complete picture of passenger demand.

The reliance on cash is deeply rooted. Bus services have long operated under a mixed model, with private operators filling gaps that the public network could not always cover. While this expanded access, it also left authorities managing a vast number of vehicles and operators with varying levels of maintenance and compliance, while responsibilities were spread across multiple institutions.

In the early 2000s, Algiers had more buses on paper, yet passengers continued to face overcrowded journeys and unreliable schedules. Recent measures, including stricter licensing requirements, new fleet plans, and the gradual retirement of buses over 30 years old, are aimed at restoring order to the system.

Catching Up with Digital Payments

Digitalization is beginning to emerge alongside these reforms. In 2024, ETUSA introduced online renewal of monthly subscriptions. The national railway company, SNTF, launched electronic booking for long-distance trains. In Oran, tram operator Setram introduced QR-code tickets that passengers can purchase and validate on their phones. These initiatives represent progress, but they remain peripheral within a transport network where cash still dominates.

The 2024 annual report of the Bank of Algeria illustrates both the scale of the challenge and the opportunity. More than 85 percent of card transactions were cash withdrawals from ATMs, while the money supply in circulation increased by more than 10 percent year-on-year. At the same time, electronic payments are growing rapidly. Transactions through POS terminals increased by nearly 40 percent in volume and 41 percent in value between 2023 and 2024. Online payments surged by 61 percent, reaching 51.9 billion dinars. Transport ticketing is among the fastest-growing categories, with payments increasing by 104 percent once online services became available.

According to Algeria Press Service (APS), the country’s official news agency, the Governor of the Bank of Algeria has set a clear objective: a cashless economy by 2028. Policy is already moving in that direction. The 2025 Finance Law banned cash payments for real estate transactions and luxury purchases, while mobile payments through DZ MOB PAY processed more than 434 billion dinars in their first year. Peer-to-peer transfers more than doubled in 2024, reaching 503 billion dinars across 36 million transactions. Yet ATM withdrawals also increased, reaching 197 million transactions in 2024, highlighting how deeply cash remains embedded in everyday life.

These early digital projects and payment trends are encouraging, but they remain largely isolated. A bus subscription portal here, a railway booking website there, and a QR-code tram ticket in only one city. For passengers, this means different rules and channels depending on the journey. For operators and public authorities, it means fragmented data and no comprehensive view of mobility across the network.

Why Integration Matters

This is where integrated digital ticketing and payment platforms come into play. Rather than having each transport mode build its own solution, a platform-based approach is built around a simple idea: providing every passenger with a single account that works across buses, trams, and trains.

This account can be linked to whichever payment method best fits local needs—contactless bank cards, QR codes, mobile wallets, rechargeable transport cards, or even cash top-ups through agents. Cash does not disappear overnight; instead, it becomes part of a system that generates data and supports better planning.

For operators, the benefits are immediate. When every validation, scan, or tap passes through the same platform, it becomes much easier to identify the busiest routes, pinpoint overcrowding, and determine which schedules require additional capacity. Revenue can be distributed more fairly among different operators, while passengers experience the network as a single system rather than a collection of separate services.

Lessons from Neighboring Markets

Other countries in the Middle East and Africa have already undergone this transition. In Saudi Arabia, SAPTCO decided to move from on-premise systems to cloud-based infrastructure. Drawing on O-CITY’s extensive cloud expertise, the company completed the transformation in record time and connected eight cities to its network. Each city now benefits from digital bus payments and a dedicated white-label mobile application for passengers. O-CITY supports a unified fare system for buses, reducing cash handling and providing authorities with clearer visibility into network usage.

In Egypt, the platform powers electronic ticketing for the national railway operator ENR, opening digital booking and payment options to millions of passengers.

In Johannesburg, O-CITY helped streamline a mixed bus and taxi payment environment, reducing revenue leakage and improving transparency. While none of these contexts is identical to Algeria, they share familiar characteristics: heavy reliance on buses, large volumes of low-value transactions, and the need to coordinate public and private operators.

O-CITY, developed by BPC, is not simply an application but a platform capable of interfacing with multiple transport modes and payment channels. It is designed to connect with existing validators and fare gates where appropriate, support QR codes, contactless cards, mobile wallets, and agent-banking models, and provide the data that transport planners genuinely need.

For Algeria, the value lies in combining this experience with local requirements: Arabic and French interfaces, support for national payment cards, and integration with domestic payment systems and mobile payment schemes.

Turning Policy into Everyday Experience

Algeria has set ambitious goals: a cashless economy by 2028 and a fully “smart” Algiers by 2035. These objectives will not be achieved overnight, nor through technology alone. However, experience from other cities demonstrates that integrated digital fares are among the most effective ways to connect public policy with everyday life.

The demand is already there. Electronic payments nearly doubled in 2024, and transport ticketing is among the fastest-growing categories. What operators need now are the tools to meet that demand. Platforms such as O-CITY provide that capability, transforming reform into something passengers experience not in policy documents, but in the convenience and reliability of their daily journeys.