O-CITY, the smart city payment division of BPC, has joined the Visa Ready for Transit programme available for mass transit systems.

The programme was designed for companies whose technology products and capabilities will aid the ‘transit agencies and riders realise the benefits of tapping to ride with a contactless card or digital wallet’.

With this acceptance into the programme, O-CITY will be available to cities around the world to boost their digital transformation.

Visa Ready brings together the different players in the ecosystem to boost the use of open-loop systems.

The use of open-loop systems by transport agencies will free them from the need to build and maintain a complex payment system.

This will permit them to focus on providing the best traveller experience as passengers can complete the payment using their mobile phone or card.

This shift to contactless open-loop payments is expected to have a positive impact on the daily lives of passengers around the world.

BPC smart city and transport solutions senior vice-president Tokhir Abdukadyrov said: “The world is rapidly embracing contactless payments across all public transport; a situation that will only be accelerated by the Covid-19 global pandemic.

“With contactless payments, everyone wins. The traveller’s experience is significantly improved and you see a significant increase in the adoption of contactless digital payments to access citywide transit systems.

“Digital ticketing can increase loyalty and revenues. Acceptance into the Visa Ready programme represents a key milestone in O-CITY’s plans to drive digital transformation in collaboration with transport operators worldwide.”

Visa Ready makes the process easier for operators to identify the ideal partner for automated fare collection and select O-CITY to boost the digital transformation.

Currently, O-CITY is used by over 100 cities around the world, including Bogota and Moscow.