STM testing smartphone payment system
Mobile application would allow commuters to pay for their fares on their smartphones
Metro users are one step closer to being able to pay for their fares on their smartphones.
About 100 employees of the STM, Montreal's public transit network, are currently beta-testing the new application that was announced a year ago.
Philippe Schnobb, chairman of the board for the STM, said the mobile payments would allow commuters to use their smartphone to board a bus or the Metro, as they do now with their OPUS card.
Testers can only use the application for single-use tickets or for 10 fares at once, according to Schnobb.
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"We use the phone to buy the ticket online and it writes the information on the phone's chip," Schnobb told CBC Montreal's Homerun. "The turnstile will just read the chip."
The first phase of testing has gone well over the last two weeks but the application won't be immediately available to the public.
"It's like testing a new drug," said Schnobb. "There's a long time between the test and getting it on the shelf."
Still not compatible with Apple
There are adjustments that would need to be made such as ensuring the application is available on all smartphones since it only currently works on Android devices.
The public transit authority would also have to issue a public call for tenders to build the application, said Schnobb.
"It's a long process so it's not something you will even have maybe during 2017," he said.