Bus operator Trentbarton as launched what it’s calling the world’s most advanced ticketing app to replace its plastic mango cards on services in the East Midlands.

They say the Mango app is the world’s first account-based ticketing app from a bus company which calculates the right fare for the customer using scan-on-scan-off technology via a QR code.

Customers can download the mango app for free for their Apple or Android devices. Featuring an on-screen balance and online top up, the app allows customers to top up their credit, either within the app, or at a trentbarton travel shop and it automatically generates a unique QR-style barcode to be scanned as the customer gets on board and when getting off.

Each night the mango system will calculate the right fares to charge for the day’s journeys, including the mango discount on single trip cash fares.

As well as a daily cap on charges there are also rolling weekly and 28-day caps so customers can be confident there is a limit to what they spend, however frequently they travel on trentbarton buses. There are discounts for students and apprentices.

The mango app aims to replace more than 100,000 plastic mango cards which are currently active. Existing mango customers can continue using their physical mango card for two months during which they can migrate at any time onto the app, easily transferring any credit from the card to the app.

Customers without a smart phone or device can still pay by tapping on and tapping off with their contactless debit or credit cards, or buy a saver pass or pay with cash.

Jeff Counsell, managing director of trentbarton, said, “trentbarton has always been an innovator and brought new firsts to bus travel throughout our history. mango was already a ground-breaking fare cap payment method and the app will propel mango into the future.

“We’ve taken the best bits of the mango card and put them into the mango app plus added more to bring mango into the smartphone age.”