DOTr starts pilot testing of contactless payment in modern PUVs

The Department of Transportation (DOTr) on Thursday rolled out the initial phase of its cashless payment system in modern public utility vehicles. 

File photo: DOTR logo

The initial phase of its cashless payment system launched!

According to DOTr Sec. Jaime Bautista, the Automated Fare Collection System (AFCS) is seen to help elevate the country’s transportation system and be at par with other countries.

The institutionalization of the AFCS will bring us closer to the goal of achieving global standards in cashless payments when commuting, following the norm in many other countries that have long been using this system, Bautista said in his message delivered by DOTr Undersecretary Mark Steven Pastor during the pilot production testing project for the AFCS Europay-Mastercard-Visa (EMV) at the Parañaque Integrated Terminal Exchange.

The AFCS allows the use of EMV-compliant contactless credit, debit, and prepaid bank cards as cashless payment instruments in public transport modes.

The initial implementation will involve 150 PUVs in the National Capital Region, Central Luzon, CALABARZON, and Central Visayas.

Bautista said that the introduction of this cashless payment in modern PUVs will be the basis for the promulgation of a comprehensive policy for convenient and safe cashless payments, as well as a tool for evidence-based transport planning.

Through this, DOTr will be able to verify the entire AFCS under a real-time operating condition prior to its full commercial implementation. This will also identify the "major functionalities of the country’s transit system, and establish end-to-end AFCS processing and acceptance of EMV compliant contactless cards as a transit payment instrument," the department added.

For now, only Land Bank prepaid and credit contactless cards will be accepted during the pilot testing. Other contactless cards issued by other local banks will be accepted once necessary regulations are put in place.

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Source: DOTr