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

  • Road user charging comes a step closer in Oregon
    December 19, 2017
    Having been the first US state to introduce the gas tax a century ago, Oregon is now blazing the road user charging trail. Colin Sowman looks at progress to date. For more than a decade, authorities in Oregon have known of the impending decline in fuels tax income and while revenue increased by more than 5% in 2016, that growth will slow considerably this year and income is projected to start declining in 2020.
    Read More
  • Vancouver’s TransLink achieves one billion Compass Card ‘taps’ since launch
    August 30, 2017
    Canadian transportation authority TransLink’s Compass Card contactless smart card payment system, designed and integrated by Cubic Transportation Systems (CTS) has processed more than one billion ‘taps’ since its launch in 2015. Compass Card processes more than 43 million card ‘taps’ each month and over 1.5 million every weekday, with 95 per cent of all fares now being paid using a Compass product. The Compass Card links all of TransLink’s services and fare products in Metro Vancouver to a single payment s
    Read More
  • Whim launch in Birmingham: new day dawning
    June 4, 2018
    MaaS Global’s Whim mobility service is expanding with its first launch outside Finland – and has chosen the UK’s second city as its base. Adam Hill reports from Birmingham
    Read More
  • $129.5 million Philadelphia fare system contract awarded to ACS
    March 26, 2012
    The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) board has voted to award a contract of up to US$129.5 million to ACS Transport Solutions Group for equipment and services for the installation of a modernised fare system under its new payment technologies (NPT) programme.
    Read More

Highlighted Content