Frequently asked questions

West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) use our supplier, Unicard Ltd, for the collection of necessary data to validate entitlement and in collaboration with Experian QAS Plc, a global provider of identification services.

For this application process, the website makes a request to Experian's 'Authenticate for Public Sector' software. The record of this event is known as a 'footprint', which indicates that an identity check has been done, when this occurred and the organisation (in this case, West Midlands Combined Authority) that made the check. The footprint will not be seen by lenders and it will not be used for credit assessments. However, it will be seen by an individual should they request a copy of their credit report from Experian.

Unicard Ltd and Experian QAS Plc are fully compliant with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) (EU) 2016/679 and will treat your personal data in strict accordance with this regulation. In addition, please read the Terms and Conditions displayed throughout the registration process and the Privacy Policy.

This site will allow you to:

• Apply for
  • Older Persons travel pass
• For lost or damaged cards, request a replacement, with payment, for an
  • Older Persons travel pass
  • Disabled Persons travel pass

Please check the following pages for eligibility:

• Older Persons travel pass - https://www.networkwestmidlands.com/tickets-and-passes/older-persons-pass/
• Disabled Persons travel pass https://www.networkwestmidlands.com/tickets-and-passes/disabled-persons-pass/

New Applications

You should receive your travel pass within five days of your application being approved. If you are applying before you are eligible by your age, then your travel pass will be released ten days before your date of entitlement.

Replacement passes

Replacement travel passes, when ordered and paid for online, will take up to five days to arrive.

Photo

If your application has been deferred because your photo has been marked as unsuitable you will receive an email with a link to upload another photo to your account.

We have been unable to verify your application

Your application may be deferred if we are unable to complete verification checks using Experian's 'Authenticate for Public Sector' software. This does not necessarily mean that you are not entitled to a pass. This could be for a number of reasons, for example:

• You have incorrectly entered your date of birth
• You have selected the wrong address or provided an old address
• You have recently changed address
• Your address is not your primary place of residence or you have moved multiple times
• You have already applied and your application is pending

If you are deferred because of this reason and you believe you are eligible, please complete a paper application form and submit it in the post with all supporting documents.

You can take a photo or scan a photo to any size as long as it's a jpeg. All cameras and camera phones take photos in jpeg format. The final photo has to fit on the card and should be as clear as possible at a size of 200x240 pixels (25mm x 30mm).

You can easily crop the photo using the software incorporated in the page so don't take it too close up. Head and shoulders is a good starting point for the photo.

The end result we are looking to achieve is something like this. The software will guide you through the process.