By Azer N. Parrocha
MANILA, Nov. 12 (PNA) — Beep card concessionaire AF Payments Inc. (AFPI) on Thursday announced that it has just issued its one millionth beep card since it was first pilot tested in July.
This figure more than triples the initial 300,000 target set by the Train Operators and AFPI early this year.
AFPI chief executive Peter Maher, in a statement, welcomed the beep card’s late success, which he said was currently being used in the Light Rail Transit Lines 1 and 2 (LRT-1, LRT-2), and the Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT-3).
“We are delighted that rail commuters in Metro Manila have taken so readily to the new beep™ card,” Maher said.
“Today, beep™ cards are already used to pay for more than 50 percent of all Rail transactions on LRT 1, LRT2 and MRT 3 ” he added.
AFPI said that reaching the one-million mark was a result of standard beep™ cards sold in the stations through the tellers and the Ticket Vending Machines (TVMs), as well as the co-issued beep cards of PayMaya and Globe GCash.
The beep™ card became available to the public only a little over four months ago when it was first offered through a limited public trial in LRT 2.
LRT 1 followed one month after when the card was made available to passengers traversing its north-bound tracks. The new system was launched at MRT 3 on Oct. 3.
At present, all rail commuters who use more than one line can benefit from the convenient and seamless transfer across lines made possible by this unified payment solution.
Future plans
AFPI is currently working on shifting its sights to provide a convenient payment system even outside the rails.
“We are working hard to meet the challenge of delivering one card that works efficiently across many transport and retail categories in Metro Manila,” Maher said.
“Our vision is for beep to be part of every Filipinos life. To be able to do this, we are working on getting more establishments to accept the card for top-ups and payment transactions,” he added.
The beep™ card is currently available in all LRT1, LRT2 and MRT3 stations and can be purchased via the Ticket Vending Machines (TVMs) and Teller Booths.
Beep™ cards are sold for Php 20 and can be loaded with a minimum of Php 13. The beep™ card can be re-loaded for four years and can hold as much as Php 10,000. (PNA)