Rio’s commuters welcome contactless Visa application

Transit authorities could soon be seeing the benefits of contactless payments – without having to replace expensive turnstiles or terminals. That, at least, is what Visa is suggesting as the company launches its own secure access model (SAM), which is set to be put into service in Brazil. Metro Rio will be the first transit operator to launch contactless payments using the Visa SAM in late April. Visa and Planeta Informatica say the new technology “makes it easy for transit organisations and operators to
March 6, 2019 Read time: 2 mins
Transit authorities could soon be seeing the benefits of contactless payments – without having to replace expensive turnstiles or terminals.


That, at least, is what Visa is suggesting as the company launches its own secure access model (SAM), which is set to be put into service in Brazil.

Metro Rio will be the first transit operator to launch contactless payments using the Visa SAM in late April.

Visa and Planeta Informatica say the new technology “makes it easy for transit organisations and operators to begin offering riders the ability to tap to pay with a contactless card, phone or wearable device, without the expense and technical requirements of replacing current turnstiles or terminal hardware”.

Rather than having to buy new hardware, operators can install the Visa SAM directly into existing systems. Visa called it a “transformational development”.

“Through our work with Planeta Informatica, we have pioneered a way to accelerate the shift to contactless transit that is scalable and highly secure, while generating time and cost savings for transit operators by removing the hurdles of replacing potentially thousands of transit readers across the transport system,” says Nick Mackie, global head of urban mobility for Visa.

Visa launched its mass transit payment framework in 2017. “We worked diligently with Visa to build the best technological solution for adding EMV contactless acceptance on top of any existing closed-loop payment system without necessarily replacing the entire electronic ticketing infrastructure,” said Artur Costa, CEO of Planeta Informática.

The two companies have partnered with 7849 Ingenico Group to implement the Visa SAM in Rio de Janeiro.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • How MaaS and AVs can cut Oslo traffic
    June 17, 2019
    A new study shows that on-demand AVs and MaaS together could make a significant difference to traffic in Oslo, Norway – but only if ride-share is involved too If you replace today’s traditional private car ownership with a mixture of Mobility as a Service (MaaS) and on-demand autonomous vehicles (AVs) running door-to-door, you could make dramatic cuts in city traffic. That, at least, is the view of researchers from COWI and PTV, who have modelled a variety of future scenarios based on the morning rush h
    Read More
  • Future of tolling: the priorities
    January 14, 2020
    In the final part of his investigation into the future of tolling technology, Josef Czako of Moving Forward Consulting asks what industry figures see as the priorities going forward…
    Read More
  • Lyon opens up to Worldline payment
    June 7, 2022
    More than 4,000 contactless validators on bus, tram and metro routes in French city
    Read More
  • Switching Atlanta onto MaaS
    May 9, 2019
    It’s easy to talk about MaaS in the abstract – but MaaS isn’t going to work if it’s just a theory. Colin Sowman speaks to one woman about the practical benefits - and difficulties - of getting out of her car and switching to public transit in Atlanta, Georgia One of the first goals of Mobility as a Service (MaaS) inventor Sampo Hietanen is that MaaS should persuade households they don’t need a second car. This is starting to happen - even in the car-dominated US. Last year, authorities in the state of Ge
    Read More

Highlighted Content