Contactless-payment terminal maker Ingenico SA has fueled a prepaid card project for Turkey’s public transportation system, the France-based company announced Dec. 6.
Ingenico calls the Esparacard project “the first of its kind” because a software upgrade enables its terminals to process contactless payments and interact with the card’s MasterCard M/Chip Advance payment software used in the transportation industry, Ingenico spokesperson Remi Calvet tells PaymentsSource through an email.
The Esparacard enables residents in the city of Eskisehir to conduct contactless or contact chip-and-PIN payments when purchasing tickets through agents that use the Ingenico terminals at municipal and public bus stations or tramways, according to an Ingenico press release.
Having transportation fare-management software built in to the card chip and interacting with software on Ingenico terminals makes this project unusual, Zil Bareisis, a London-based senior analyst for research firm Celent, tells PaymentsSource.
“I have not heard of other announcements of a similar nature, although MasterCard Worldwide has been working on transportation trials with MasterCard PayPass in several other places, including New York City,” Bareisis says.
MasterCard worked with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in June 2010 to incorporate PayPass for Citibank cardholders in New York (
After MasterCard in 2009 announced the M/Chip Advance PayPass upgrade, which combined contact and contactless options and allowed software additions relevant to transportation and cardholder loyalty, all of the major chip card manufacturers launched products certified to support those functions, Bareisis notes.
Germany-based Giesecke & Devrient GmbH became the first technology provider to receive certification for the M/Chip Advance card product in December 2010 (
The upgraded Ingenico terminal software recognizes personal information on the Esparacard, automatically processing discounts for students, teachers and seniors older than 65, Ingenico stated in its release. The terminals also support applications on the card’s chip that allow free transit between different public transportation vehicles within one hour, Ingenico said.
Neither Calvet nor Ingenico were able to provide information about the terminal model. Specific information about the prepaid card also was not immediately available.
Garanti Bankasi issues the MasterCard-branded Esparacard, Ingenico’s Calvet said. Petroleum retailer Asis International Turkey, automotive company Ilfer SPA and the Eskisehir Metropolitan Municipality collaborated with Ingenico on the project, he added.
Companies involved in the project designed the Esparacard for the transportation system, but any merchant who accepts MasterCard will also accept the Esparacard, Ingenico stated.
Manufacturing payment terminals and developing software for the transportation industry has become competitive, Bareisis contends. “Ingenico will receive kudos for providing the terminal infrastructure for this project,” Bareisis says. “However, I can’t really say if Ingenico is any better than VeriFone or others in the transportation sector.”
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