INSIDE’s proof-of-concept demonstration showed how a single multi-application card based upon the company’s MicroPass 4003 chip platform can be used to conduct contactless payments on both a retail POS terminal and on a Cubic transit fare collection device.

Local and regional transit operators will now have the choice of adopting or migrating to transit fare collection solutions based upon both APTA standards, private profiles and open bank card standards with greater security, functionality and user convenience. This also provides retailers and financial institutions with an opportunity to partner with transit operators to provide consumers with a single payment card that can also be used to conveniently pay for goods and services located near public transit stations. The combined Visa payWave/NextPASS contactless card is the first example of a technology that could be used to address this emerging demand.

According to INSIDE, having a resident transit application on a general-purpose payment card enables it to be used like a native transit card. The transit payment system treats it just as a regular transit card, and is able to perform all the normal front-end processing. Because of its intelligence, the transit application on the card is able to cope with highly complex fare schedules based on distance, zones and time, for example, as well as various schemes for enabling riders to transfer between multiple transit lines.