Some bus passengers in the Vietnamese capital of Ho Chi Minh City soon will be able to pay their fares using a contactless smart card as part of test of the technology, an official from the city’s transport authority tells PaymentsSource.
The trial is scheduled to begin March 1 using a card and reader made by an unnamed vendor, according to the Ho Chi Minh City Public Transport Operation and Management Centre. If the pilot is successful, the authority will expand the system across its entire bus service by June, the official says.
The trial will begin on buses that operate along the Saigon-Bin Tay and Ben Thanh-Au Co-An Suong bus routes, the transport authority official says. Bus users may purchase a yearly or monthly pass for 3,000 Vietnamese dong [16 U.S. cents or 12 euro cents], he adds, noting riders may use the card an unlimited number of times.
Users may top up the card whenever they wish and up to any amount at major bus stations, according to the official. “Contactless smart card readers on the buses will automatically subtract funds from the cardholder’s account every time,” he adds.