December 6, 2011
Ingenico (Euronext : FR0000125346 – ING), the leading worldwide provider of payment solutions, today announced a new card payment system for public transportation with MasterCard M/Chip Advance in Turkey. The Esparacard project, the first of its kind in the world, has been implemented in Eskisehir, Turkey.
As the key part of the Esparacard project, Ingenico designed and supplied both the hardware and software payment solutions of the new ticketing system. Specifically, the new system will use Ingenico’s POS terminals, certified MasterCard M/Chip Advance, to accommodate contactless card payments. The Esparacard project, representing a new generation of city and transportation card projects, was the result of a successful collaboration of several major financial and municipal institutions including Garanti Bankasi, Eskisehir Metropolitan Municipality, MasterCard, Asis and ILFER companies.
All ticketing agents on the municipal and public buses and tramways will use Ingenico’s POS terminals to enable Eskisehir residents to use their Esparacard. The Esparacard is a pre-paid card with both contact and contactless features, and is also part of MasterCard M/Chip Advance worldwide’s new payment platform used in transportation.
The renewed electronic ticketing system is the latest example of the modern ticketing system. It is integrated with the banking infrastructure to allow the use of credit cards from all banks,” commented Dr. Yilmaz Büyükersen, the Mayor of Eskisehir, during the inaugural press conference. “We are proud to be the first in Turkey to implement this advanced public transportation ticketing project in Eskisehir which will benefit all residents and visiting guests of our beautiful city. It will serve as a great example for similar projects in the country and throughout the world.”
Ingenico has made a number of engineering innovations and improvements to its POS terminals to accommodate the M/Chip Advance features. Unique and personal cardholder information that is embedded on the Esparacard such as a student, or a teacher, or senior over 65-years of age discount, is recognized by the system using Ingenico’s terminals. The ticketing system allows the use of the money loaded on the Esparacard, not only for transportation purposes, but also at other merchants who accept MasterCard. In addition, the system also includes special applications such as free-of-charge transit between different public transportation vehicles within one hour.
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