NBC Ushering Digital Age: Ticket Purchase by WhatsApp

For commuters used to rushing to the terminal, standing in long lines and scrambling for a seat, the National Bus Company says that frustration could soon be a thing of the past. The company is preparing to roll out a digital ticketing system that will allow passengers to secure their seats before they even reach the terminal. Louis Verde, Special Projects Officer, says the process could be as simple as exchanging a few messages on WhatsApp.

 

Louis Verde, Special Projects Officer

“ One of the ideas that we’ve had and it’s becoming a reality very soon, is purchasing through WhatsApp. WhatsApp in itself is just not, is not just a technology to chat. There are several different powerful features that WhatsApp has where you can book a ticket. For us it would be to book a ticket, to check schedules, to even get notifications as to what your bus is doing. If it’s delayed, it’s gonna notify you. This is an actual snippet of how it would look using WhatsApp through our NBC numbers that we have. So essentially you would choose your location. If you’re traveling from Belize, you put it to Benque Viejo. The date that you want your ticket for, passengers and your contact number. And then just this one simple step is everything that we need to proceed afterwards with everything I’ll explain. The final result would be that where you get a QR code that the conductors would be scanning upon entering the buses, and that’s it. You don’t need another app.”

 

Attention readers: This online newscast is a direct transcript of our evening television broadcast. When speakers use Kriol, we have carefully rendered their words using a standard spelling system.

 

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