The Indian city of Bengaluru (formerly Bangalore) soon will roll out its first contactless smart card for shopping and transit use, an official from the Bengaluru Metro Rail Corp. Ltd. tells PaymentsSource.
“We are considering a modernized version of prepaid ticketing, which will enable passengers to ‘hop and shop,’” he says. “Called the e-purse, the cards will integrate the Metro ticket and services available at Metro stations in the city.”
The cards, which will be phased in starting later this month at all Metro stations, also will be usable for shopping. “We hope to [reach acceptance agreements] with restaurants, food outlets, shops and establishments,” the official adds. The card will be a proprietary card issued by the transit agency.
Each card will access preloaded funds, which the agency automatically will deduct for transit rides when it is tapped at the turnstile or for purchases when tapped on readers deployed in shopping establishments, the official says.
Cardholders in the near future also will be able to use the e-purse to pay for other modes of transportation in the city, such as local buses, and parking, according to the official. Korea-based Samsung-SDS Ltd. and the government-owned Rail Nirman Corp. are providing the proprietary card, which consumers only may use in Bangalore.
