Passengers travelling on express bus services in the Santa Barbara region of the US state of California can now pay their fares by tapping an on-board payment reader with their contactless debit, credit, prepaid card or mobile wallet... More
Travel and ticketing
Moscow Metro lets passengers top up their Troika transit card from their mobile banking app
Passengers travelling on Moscow Metro can now buy and top up a Troika transit card directly from within their mobile banking app... More
China to launch digital yuan nationwide after 2022 Winter Olympics?
China could be ready to officially launch the digital yuan as a fully operational central bank digital currency (CBDC) after the Beijing Winter Olympics in early 2022, according to reports in the Chinese media... More
Survey: Four in five consumers globally would use a biometric payment card
More than four fifths of consumers (81%) worldwide are ready to use a biometric payment card and authenticate payments with their fingerprint rather than a PIN code, according to a survey commissioned by a biometric technology provider... More
MTA sees open loop fare payments double as Omny system tops 100m taps
Passengers on New York’s subway and bus services have now tapped their contactless bank card, smartphone or wearable device to pay fares using the Omny open loop fare payment system more than 100m times since its launch in May 2019, double the total of 50m the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) reported in March this year... More
New Zealand to launch national open loop contactless fare payments in 2022
Public transport users in the New Zealand city of Canterbury will be the first to be able to make contactless fare payments with a new national public transport smartcard or their own credit or debit card using an account-based open loop payments system being introduced by the Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency... More
Beijing Rail Transit lets passengers pay their fares with digital yuan
Passengers on 24 subway lines and four suburban rail services in the Chinese capital of Beijing can now use the country’s central bank digital currency (CBDC) to make contactless payments for their fares from a digital yuan mobile wallet issued by the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China... More
Translink to roll out interoperable fare-capped contactless ticketing across Northern Ireland
Public transport users in Northern Ireland will soon be able to make tap-on-tap-off contactless fare payments on all bus and rail services across the whole province using their debit or credit card or a single transit smartcard... More
SEPTA reveals plans to expand mobile payments for transit ticketing in Philadelphia
South East Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) in the US is planning to upgrade or replace its SEPTA Key transit card system in order to offer passengers on its bus, trolley and rail networks in the Greater Philadelphia region a wider range of transit ticketing options... More
Stockholm to add EMV white label card for closed loop transit ticketing
Passengers travelling on metro, rail, bus, tram and boat services in the Swedish capital of Stockholm will soon be able to use an EMV white label card issued by the city’s Storstockholm Lokaltrafik (SL) transit authority to make EMV contactless payments for their fares... More
Virgin Hotels lets guests check in with mobile ID
Guests staying at Virgin Hotels in four US cities can now securely verify their identity, check in and receive a mobile room key via an app on their iOS or Android device before arriving at their hotel... More
Washington Metro lets Android users add SmarTrip transit cards to Google Pay
Passengers with an Android NFC phone can now make tap-and-go fare payments on public transportation services in the Washington DC area in the US by adding a SmarTrip transit card to Google Pay... More
Apple unveils support for digital keys and IDs in iOS 15
Apple iPhone users will soon be able to store digital versions of their identity documents and a wider range of digital keys in their Wallet app, enabling them to prove their identity and tap to unlock their home, garage, workplace or hotel room with their smartphone... More
Korean buses trial ‘tagless’ Bluetooth fare payments
Passengers travelling on three inter-regional bus routes in South Korea’s Gyeonggi-do province can now test a ‘tagless’ fare payment system that enables them to pay for their tickets without needing to tap an onboard contactless reader with their transit card or smartphone... More
Brescia rolls out account based contactless ticketing across entire public transport network
Passengers travelling on Brescia Mobilità buses in the northern Italian city and 14 surrounding municipalities can now make contactless fare payments with their credit or debit card or from a digital wallet on their NFC phone or smart watch... More
CTA lets Android users tap and pay for transit fares in Chicago
Passengers on public transportation services in Chicago in the US can now use an Android NFC smartphone to make tap-and-go fare payments by uploading the Chicago Transit Authority’s (CTA) virtual Ventra transit card to Google Pay... More
UK government unveils plans for digital ticketing across national rail network
Passengers travelling on UK train services are to get more contactless and digital ticketing options across the rail network and will be able to buy tickets and access fare and timetable information via a single integrated website, the UK government has announced... More
Clipper rolls out support for Google Pay for transit fares in San Francisco Bay Area
Android users can now upload their Clipper transit card to Google Pay, reload their card balance and pay for their fares on 24 transit systems across the San Francisco Bay Area of the USA with their smartphone... More
England rolls out digital vaccine certificates on NHS app
Residents of England who have been inoculated against Covid-19 can now use the National Health Service’s NHS App to access a digital certificate confirming their vaccine status on their iOS or Android device without needing to request certification from their GP... More
ABI forecasts open loop EMV transit ticketing payment cards to top 136m by 2025
The number of open-loop EMV contactless cards used to make transit ticketing payments worldwide will increase from 24.8m currently to 136.9m by 2025, according to an ABI Research forecast... More