The Roads and Transport Authority of Dubai has expanded the use of its closed-loop Nol Card, which commuters have been using to pay for Metro fares, road tolls and parking in Dubai, a spokesperson confirms to Payments Source.
Cardholders now may use their cards to access all mass-transit services, including public buses and ferries (waterbuses), the transit authority noted in a Feb. 10 press release.
The authority also announced the launch of new Nol cards designed for specific consumer segments.
Previously, Nol cards came in three variants–the Silver Card, which consumers could buy for 20 dirham (US$6.50 or 4 euros) and load up to 500 dirham without registering; a similar Gold Card that gave the user charged access to the Metro’s Gold Class seats; and the Red Ticket, a paper-based card priced at 2 dirham lacking an e-purse but usable to access 10 trips. A personalized variant called the Blue Card is available for 70 dirham, and riders can load up to 500 dirham into the card account.
The authority now is launching a monthly Blue Nol card for students of schools and universities, seniors and special-need individuals, the spokesperson says. Users of the cards will get special discounts and privileges.
Roads and Transport also plans to release a dual-chip card known as “Combi Card,” a credit card fitted with both a Nol card chip and an EMV chip. Cardholders may use the card both as a transit card and as a credit card at retail locations.
The authority announced its plans to issue a dual credit and transit chip card last April (
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