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Rio de Janeiro pilots NFC ticketing for public transit

Published

Oct. 18, 2013

A pilot program is under way in Rio de Janeiro to let bus, train and ferry riders pay with NFC-enabled smartphones. The three-month initiative, expected to run through December, is a partnership between RioCard Tecnologia da InfRioCard Tecnologia da Informação, Gemalto, Motorola Mobility and the country's four leading mobile operators — Claro, Oi, Telefónica and TIM, supported by the GSMA.

The pilot program, the first of its kind in Brazil, includes 200 users.

Contactless technology was first adopted in Rio de Janeiro with RioCard transit card in 2003 and is now a part of the daily routine of millions of users, according to a news release.

The pilot program exclusively features Motorola RAZR D3 smartphones, which contain an app that allows users to check balances on the screen at any time or place. The RioCard will soon offer prepaid charges on the device itself, the release said.

"It is a practical and fast system that brings freedom to the customer," Homero Quintaes, director of RioCard TI, said in the release.

The digital security firm Gemalto is providing its UpTeq multitenant NFC SIM cards with embedded Mifare4Mobile technology that is designed to protect user credentials. The addition of Gemalto's Trusted Service Manager platform means the solution can support several value-added services, the release said.

"Transportation is emerging as one of the major applications for NFC technology, and our UpTeq multitenant NFC SIM card is fully scalable to host an extensive range of services now and in the future," Damien Bullot, telecom director, Gemalto Brazil, said in the release. "As more and more banks, merchants and service providers introduce leading edge mobile payment technology, Gemalto's scalable solution can seamlessly accommodate the addition of new service providers as the marketplace evolves."

Pierre Combelles, head of mobile commerce, GSMA, said NFC is picking up momentum rapidly in the southern hemisphere. "This innovative pilot in Latin America shows mobile NFC digitizing ticketing, but this is just a starting point, as mobile commerce will drive demand for new services such as payment, vouchers, loyalty programs and access, among others," he said in the release. "It's an exciting time in the region."

Learn more about contactless/NFC.