Public transportation users in the Turkish capital of Ankara can now upload an AnkaraKart transit pass to their NFC mobile phone and use it to make payments on bus, subway and light rail services... More
Travel and ticketing
Android 10 to make it easier for Google Pay users to switch between cards
A new feature due to be added to Android 10 will make it possible for Google Pay users to quickly access details of all their stored payment cards from their lockscreen — and then easily select from the list the card they wish to use for their next transaction... More
Google adds Secure NFC option to Android 10
A new feature in Android 10 will make it possible for consumers to choose whether or not they wish to be able to make NFC card emulation transactions without first unlocking their device... More
JR East introduces loyalty points for transit ticketing payments
Users of Japanese rail operator JR East’s Suica stored value transit cards will soon be able to start collecting loyalty points when they use their account to pay for their journeys — and will receive four times as many points when they use Suica to make a payment with their mobile phone rather than a plastic card... More
Detroit rolls out multi-operator transit ticketing app
Public transportation users in Detroit, Michigan, can now use their mobile phone as well as the city’s new contactless transit cards to purchase time-based travel passes that work seamlessly across multiple transportation operators... More
NFCW adds dedicated payments, transit ticketing and NFC technology hubs
NFC World is today rebranding as NFCW, moving to a new home at www.nfcw.com and switching on a new site design that lets readers easily access specialist news and knowledge on topics of particular interest, beginning with payments, transit ticketing and NFC technology... More
Contactless transit payments go live in Miami
Passengers using Miami-Dade Transit’s Metrorail service can now pay for their travel using a contactless card issued by Mastercard, Visa or American Express, make mobile payments using Google Pay, Apple Pay and Samsung Pay or select to use Fitbit Pay to pay with a wearable device... More
Chinese airlines to offer NFC baggage tags at Beijing airport
China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines are introducing NFC-enabled electronic baggage tags that let passengers check in their own luggage and then track its location on their mobile phones, China Daily reports... More
Italian rail operator to pilot barrier-free transit ticketing
Trentino Trasporti, the transportation operator for the Italian city of Trento, is to be the first to pilot a new transit ticketing concept that uses sensors placed on trains to calculate and charge passengers for fares by automatically detecting when they get on and off a particular service... More
Manchester reports on open loop contactless ticketing adoption
More than 170,000 journeys have been made using Metrolink’s new contactless payment system in the four weeks since the service launched on 15 July, Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) has revealed... More
MTA reports ‘much higher’ than expected Omny contactless transit payments adoption in New York
New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Agency (MTA) says its new Omny open loop contactless payments system recorded its one millionth transaction on 8 August, “a remarkable milestone accomplished at a much higher usage rate than initially estimated”... More
Mumbai bus passengers to pilot India’s new national transit ticketing system
Mumbai bus operator BEST is to begin a pilot of India’s ‘One Nation One Card’ national transit card system in November this year... More
Tencent reports 100 million transit ticketing mini-app users
100 million transit riders are paying with WeChat mini-program: Tencent — Caixin Global — “Ride Code allows subway and bus riders to pay for transit fares with QR codes directly upon boarding in various Chinese cities. At subway stations, that means showing your barcode at the turnstile. Riders do not need to visit ticket kiosks as the fare is deducted from their WeChat Pay wallet.”
Sydney extends Opal transit card benefits to contactless and mobile payments users
Savings for commuters using contactless payments — Commonwealth Bank of Australia — “Commuters using contactless payments will now also receive Opal travel benefits, including: Daily, weekly and Sunday travel caps in line with Opal caps; Weekly travel reward (half price after eight trips); The Opal transfer discount; Off-peak pricing for train travel… The trial is also extending to the Sydney bus network in a staged roll-out over the coming months.”
Israel Railways pilots open loop contactless payments
Israel Railways starts plan to pay for rides using credit cards — The Jerusalem Post — “Israel Railways has launched a two-month contactless payment pilot programme, aiming to soon enable all rail users to ‘tap and go’ with their credit card rather than purchase a ticket or use a preloaded Rav-Kav smartcard… Pilot participants will initially be charged daily based on purchasing full price one-way tickets, although Israel Railways intends to introduce season tickets and discounts for senior citizens, students and other groups in the near future.”
Edinburgh buses add contactless payments
Tap Tap Cap! — Lothian — “From 24 July, our services will accept contactless payment with daily fare capping — a first for Scotland… Just tap your card on the reader when you board the bus and you will be charged an Adult Single fare. After three or more taps, the fare will be capped at our AdultDayTicket price.”
Miami-Dade to roll out open loop ticketing in August?
Apple Pay coming to Miami fare system in August — Appleosophy — “Miami-Dade County’s fare system for their transit is set to begin accepting Apple Pay and other forms of contactless payment systems, such as Google Pay and Samsung Pay. According to an image found on Reddit, it would appear as though the Miami-Dade County transit system is set to begin accepting Apple Pay in August 2019.”
Metrolink rolls out open loop ticketing on Manchester trams
Passengers set to benefit from new contactless payments on Metrolink — Transport for Greater Manchester — “The new system will mean customers can simply touch-in at the start of a journey and touch-out at the end using a contactless bank card or another contactless-enabled payment device, such as a phone or watch. The system will then automatically work out the total daily fare for a customer’s journeys and the price will be capped — to ensure they are paying no more than the relevant adult daily one-day travelcard price.”
Hong Kong commuters to get iPhone and Apple Watch ticketing ‘later this year’
Octopus coming soon to iPhone and Apple Watch — Octopus — “Octopus Cards Limited is excited to announce that customers will be able to use their Octopus on their iPhone or Apple Watch for transit and retail payment with Apple Pay later this year. More details will be shared soon.”
Merchant payments association calls for 18 month delay on strong customer authentication
EPSM recommends harmonised migration plans on PSD2-SCA — EPSM — “To avoid significant acceptance disruptions, EPSM recommends that all regions should agree an additional timeframe of 18 months for standard applications, as well as up to 36 months for challenging applications, such as those in the travel and hospitality sector. This will deliver an EU-wide harmonised migration approach by the EBA and the 28 national regulators for remote card payments.”