Google launches NFC-enabled transit payment card in Kenya

Google launches NFC-enabled transit payment card in Kenya Google has launched Beba in Kenya, a pre-paid NFC (near field communication)-enabled card to allow cash-free payment of bus fares by transit travellers. According to TechMtaa, an African technology website, the move was expected, and is rolling out first in Nairobi. The card, which can be loaded with up the local equivalent of US$115, is likely attractive to customers, as it may help them dodge rising rates, or bus drivers that don’t provide exact or
June 11, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
1691 Google launches NFC-enabled transit payment card in Kenya
Google has launched Beba in Kenya, a pre-paid NFC (near field communication)-enabled card to allow cash-free payment of bus fares by transit travellers.

According to 5884 TechMtaa, an African technology website, the move was expected, and is rolling out first in Nairobi. The card, which can be loaded with up the local equivalent of US$115, is likely attractive to customers, as it may help them dodge rising rates, or bus drivers that don’t provide exact or proper change.

Google’s Beba website (%$Linker: External 0 0 0 oLinkExternal www.beba.co.ke beba false http://www.beba.co.ke/ false false%>) provides a complete review of payment history by users when they sign in, as the payment cards have been synced to a web app. By tapping the payment card on bus conductor’s NFC-enabled smartphone, the fare is immediately debited, and a receipt to indicate the present balance and the used fare is sent to travellers via SMS.

Related Content

  • May 31, 2013
    Connected cones make for safer sites
    David Crawford welcomes new lives for old road safety products. Traffic cones and barrels have traditionally been on the bottom shelf of the road construction and maintenance industry, typically forming visible soft safety barriers for temporary works at a lower cost than concrete alternatives. On both sides of the Atlantic, however, they are fast gaining new roles as instrumented components in advanced construction safety arrays. The EC-sponsored €1 million (US$1.31 million) Safelane collaborative innovati
    Read More
  • January 8, 2014
    ITS European congress papers deadline extended
    The deadline for paper and special interest session proposal submissions for the ITS European Congress and Exhibition in Helsinki has been extended to midnight on 14 January. We have already received many valuable submissions and we thank you for your contributions. Papers and special interest session proposals should be submitted through the submission portal, which also provides the submission guidelines. For further details on the congress and exhibition, visit the Congress website.
    Read More
  • October 31, 2013
    JUSP launches all-in-one Chip & Pin mPOS solution
    JUSP has launched an all-in-one chip-and-pin mPOS solution for smartphones and tablets, which the manufacturer says has a lower price (¤39 per unit) and smaller transaction fee (2.5%) than other such products. It is also the only one of its kind that connects directly into a smartphone or tablet audio jack using its proprietary, patent pending technology, JUSP says, and works with the highly secure credit and debit cards in all countries outside the US. It means merchants can make payment transactio
    Read More
  • October 10, 2018
    ComfortDelGro to deploy MaaS Global app in Singapore
    Transport company ComfortDelGro is trialling MaaS Global’s Whim app in Singapore. The Finnish mobility company secured a €9m funding round for the app in August to support its ambition in revolutionising the way people move. ComfortDelGro says the Mobility as a Service (MaaS) app’s users will be able to access its fleet of taxis as well as transition from a train or a bus or choose to finish the trip on a bicycle. Kaj Pyyhtiä, MaaS Global co-founder, says the company will use the initiative to enter
    Read More

Highlighted Content