Passengers on Virgin trains can now pay for wireless broadband access on their mobile phones thanks to a new link-up between Nomad Digital and ImpulsePay.

A mobile payment solution from ImpulsePay allows customers to purchase Wi-Fi usage on any enabled Virgin train via their handset, with the money taken directly from their pay-as-you-go credit or added to their monthly bill.

Virgin Trains offers free wireless broadband usage in its first class carriages, but charges for use of the service in standard sections.

Passengers were originally only able to buy Wi-Fi access with a credit or debit card, but Nomad Digital - which provides Wi-Fi across Virgin's 75-strong train fleet - was keen to open up a wider choice of payment methods.

In the week after the mobile payment service went live, more than 400 travellers took advantage of the solution and take-up has continued to grow since then.

Jay Saw, commercial director at Nomad Digital, said ImpulsePay's product proved the most attractive on the market thanks to the simple billing mechanism and "controlled environment".

Charges are applied to customers' accounts via the internet, as opposed to through an SMS message.

"ImpulsePay provides a safe, secure method of making small payments," Mr Saw continued.

"It was very simple to integrate the ImpulsePay code into our onboard systems and there were no additional setup costs or monthly fees involved."

Operations director of ImpulsePay Paul Paterson added: "The ImpulsePay solution has a proven track record, with thousands of transactions being carried out safely and securely every month."

As a prime contractor, Nomad Digital has rolled out wireless broadband services to more than 1,500 vehicles on over 20 projects in Europe, the Middle East, Asia and the US.

It was the first company in the UK to trial Wi-Fi onboard trains and deploy a trackside network specifically designed to serve passengers. 

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