Fintech Herald is an online publication that covers the latest news and trends in the rapidly evolving world of financial technology. From mobile payments and digital banking, Fintech Herald provides insightful analysis and expert commentary on the technologies and innovations that are transforming the financial industry.The website publishes news, press releases, opinion and advertorials on various financial organizations, products and services which are commissioned from various Companies, Organizations, PR agencies, Bloggers etc. These commissioned articles are commercial in nature. This is not to be considered as financial advice and should be considered only for information purposes. It does not reflect the views or opinion of our website and is not to be considered an endorsement or a recommendation. We cannot guarantee the accuracy or applicability of any information provided with respect to your individual or personal circumstances. Please seek Professional advice from a qualified professional before making any financial decisions. We link to various third-party websites, affiliate sales networks, and to our advertising partners websites. When you view or click on certain links available on our articles, our partners may compensate us for displaying the content to you or make a purchase or fill a form. This will not incur any additional charges to you. To make things simpler for you to identity or distinguish advertised or sponsored articles or links, you may consider all articles or links hosted on our site as a commercial article placement. We will not be responsible for any loss you may suffer as a result of any omission or inaccuracy on the website.

Contactless Payments News: Ecuador’s second city Guayaquil becomes a benchmark for innovation with O-CITY

by Uma
close up of contactless payment at pharmacy SBI 328453661 2

 

O-CITY by BPC will enable residents to have a single method of access and payment without friction in the different modes of public transport in the city, generating inclusive and sustainable economic growth

O-CITY  by BPC the world’s leading automated fare collection solution for public transport operators and municipalities, today announced that its technology will support the operation of the Integrated System of Electronic Collection in Guayaquil, the second most populated city in Ecuador .

The project will allow Guayaquil transport users to have a single means of payment accepted across different modes of transport and move freely across the city, removing the need for cash or queuing at a ticket counter. The technology is currently being implemented and will be fully operational from 2023.

Commenting on the project, Javier Ríos, director of Smart Cities at BPC said: “The world’s big cities make great efforts to promote efficiencies and advance in their digitization processes. However, in Latin America there is still a pending challenge to overcome, and that is that most public transport systems are based on closed cycle technologies. Guayaquil will become a global benchmark, since it will include an open payment method, under the EMV multi-service citizen card , which will improve efficiency and security, in addition to contributing to social distancing, reducing daily commuting time and promoting infrastructure. of mobility.”

According to data from the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses (INEC) [1] Guayaquil, has a population of over 2.6 million people – many of whom rely on public transport for their daily lives. With O-City commuters will be able to move around easily and make fast payments using either an EMV (MasterCard, VISA), prepaid or multiservice card, which can be recharged both in cash and through digital channels of the financial system. There will also be top up points enabled by the system across the city such as vending machines and automatic recharge.

The prepaid EMV card will have PCI-DSS certifications for data security, as well as automatically integrating with the financial system. By promoting a system without the use of cash, users and operators have greater protection and peace of mind regarding their finances.

It is expected that O-CITY will process two million transactions per day, in an integrated transport system which will include more than 3,000 vehicles.

Due to the fact that the current Guayaquil public transport has a collection model based on closed-loop (closed system), this must be replaced by an open one and to make the transition transparent, the project will be implemented in different phases, the the first of which will begin in December 2022. The agreement will be valid for 20 years.

Juliana Peña, Business Vice President of the Andean Region of BPC, said: “When a city transfers the benefits of technology and digitization to people, it has a positive impact on their lives. Public transport represents the heart of the economic and social activity of cities, so if its operation privileges practicality, continuous movement and the safety of those who use it, the operation of the system becomes more productive.”

BPC with its O-CITY platform, together with Metrogroup, has formed the STG consortium to provide and operate the payment processing technology for the Guayaquil Transit and Mobility Agency (ATM) to orchestrate the entire project .

Diego Baeza, General Manager of Consorcio STG and CEO of Metrogroup “Technology generates a great impact on people and cities when the simplicity of everyday life is transformed into solutions that improve life. Transportation is a public service that has become the most powerful vehicle for financial inclusion and is an example of this magical transformation. For this reason, Metrogroup improves the reality of people, with simple and ingenious solutions of great impact.”

Recent Post