Alipay, the e-payment arm of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, teams up with China’s Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development to launch a virtual transport card payment service that allows commuters use public transport without IC cards or waiting in line to buy a ticket.
Image shows a bus passenger using the virtual card for payment on bus No. 506 in Hangzhou.
China’s non-bank payment industry leader Alipay started a trial operation on payment for public traffic system in Hangzhou from Aug. 11 to Dec. 30, 2016.
Passengers who wish to use the virtual card service can buy tickets by scanning QR Codes from Alipay on every other public transport system that has POS readers.
The service is one part of Alipay’s project named “future pubic transportation”, which aims to build a public system that offers convenient service in the mobile Internet era.
Image: File Photo
Ma Hong, director of the pubic transportation service center at the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, said that with the economic progress, people are traveling more frequently.
“Because different cities use different IC cards for public transport, people have to buy new cards whenever they go to a new city. It is high time to find a unified solution to this problem,” Ma said, adding that he’s happy with the service co-launched by Alipay and her ministry, aimed at helping people travel in a more convenient way.
Image: File Photo
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