Introduction to NMI
NMI provides rail operators with the payments infrastructure that makes modern ticketing and fare collection fast, secure, and operationally simpler across every sales and acceptance point—station, platform, onboard, and digital. At the core is NMI’s modular payment gateway platform, which supports contactless and digital-first transactions across rail networks, from in-station terminals to mobile and online ticketing systems.
NMI’s technology powers cEMV (contactless EMV) acceptance, allowing passengers to tap their physical card or mobile device directly at gates or validators, eliminating the need for paper tickets or proprietary smartcards. This simplifies fare collection for both passengers and operators while meeting stringent PCI DSS and transit security requirements.
The platform supports a range of card reader/PIN Pad terminals that have been acquirer/processor certified with leading banks in the US and UK/Europe. These give ticketing system providers maximum flexibility when it comes to integrating payments into barriers, unattended ticket vending machines (TVM) or face-to-face ticket sales in either ticket office or on-train.
NMI is designed to integrate cleanly with the wider rail retail and ticketing ecosystem. Through APIs and integration tooling, rail operators and their ticketing partners can connect payment acceptance across channels (counter, portable devices, fixed PIN pads, online, and in-app) into a consistent payment layer, supporting major card types and digital wallets where deployed.
On security and resilience, NMI offers value-added services that support modern risk and data protection requirements. This includes 3-D Secure (payer authentication) for e-commerce/app transactions to reduce fraud and improve confidence, plus network tokenization via NMI’s Customer Token Vault to replace sensitive card data with network-issued tokens. Helping improve security and lifecycle handling (like automatic card updates).
NMI helps rail operators and their technology partners implement reliable, secure payment acceptance for ticketing – especially in high-velocity, unattended contexts – while simplifying operations, reducing maintenance burden, and supporting a smoother passenger journey.
Key NMI Products
- NMI Payment Gateway
- Card tokenisation
- Deferred authorisation
- Online payments
- Unattended payments for ticket kiosks
