The model already applied to London's transport has also been discussed for Athens, in the context of implementing electronic tickets
Londoners can now use their contactless payment cards or NFC mobile phones on the Tube. Since December 2012, NFC credit, debit and prepaid cards have been accepted on buses in the British capital.
Transport for London (TfL) is the first transport operator in the world to accept direct electronic card payments on its various modes of transport, using the existing Oyster card infrastructure.
When entering and exiting metro stations, passengers can swipe their card (or smartphone with the Cash on Tap application) at special reading points. As explained, if they use the same card, there is a provision for their automatic inclusion in the optimal rates, such as those corresponding to daily or weekly tickets.
The volume of contactless payments has been growing steadily in Europe over the past year. Indicatively, in the 12 months to the end of June, monthly spending on Visa contactless cards tripled across Europe, reaching €664 million, as total spending in the same period amounted to €5.2 billion. There are already 100 million Visa contactless cards in circulation in Europe. There are 1.8 million NFC-compatible point-of-sale (PoS) terminals and the average purchase value is €9.70.
All MasterCard, Visa and American Express contactless payment cards issued by British banks are now directly accepted on London's public transport network, while some cards issued in other countries may not be able to be used.
According to information, the relevant model of direct use of contactless payment cards has also been discussed for Athens' means of transportation, in parallel with the implementation of the electronic ticket since 2016.
Source: protothema.gr
