From now on, Kyivans and visitors to the city, will be able to pay for travel on the subway using contactless cards issued by the Ukrainian Payment Prostir national payment system (hereinafter– Prostir). Holders of MasterCard and Prostir contactless cards can pay for travel on the subway using contactless cards.
The launch of contactless payments using Prostir cards on the subway took place at the Golden Gate subway station. Contactless payments using contactless cards issued by the national payment system will soon be made available at the 52 stations at Kyiv subway.
“The launch of a joint project to enable contactless payments on the subway using Prostir contactless cards represents a next step forward toward greater use of e-payments. The development of user-friendly cutting-edge payment instruments will get people in the habit of cashless payments, as is the case in developed countries,” said Mr Serhii Shatskyi, Director of the NBU Payment Systems and Innovative Development Department.
Mr Shatskyi underlined that the NBU does its best to create the climate conducive to the use of payment cards and retail cashless e-payments.
“The Kyiv Metropoliten municipal enterprise promotes the application of smart technologies. We are making a push toward getting subway commuters to switch from using tokens to using contactless cards to pay for subway rides. The switch to contactless cards enables passengers to save both money and time,” said Mr Dmytro Peklun, Deputy Head of the Kyiv Metropoliten municipal enterprise.
It is easy to pay for travel on the subway using a contactless card: All that users have to do is hold the contactless card against the reader while passing through the turnstile at the city subway. Fares for subway rides will be charged from the card without any commission fees.
Every day Ukrainians pay for 14 thousand subway rides using contactless MasterCard cards. We welcome the launch of contactless payment cards issued by the national payment system at the city subway and feel confident that this move will contribute to further development of contactless payment on the capital's transport network, enabling Ukrainians to benefit from advantages offered by fast, convenient and secure contactless payments,” said Ms Vira Platonova, Country Manager of the MasterCard Europe representative office in in Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.
OSCHADBANK JSC will act as a payment card acquirer in this project.
“Tremendous opportunities open up for the national payment system “PROSTIR” that has great potential for further development. Therefore, we are working on its development and implementing joint projects to introduce cutting-edge solutions in cooperation with our partners. OSCHADBANK JSC was first to issue a Prostir contactless card and was first among banks to retrofit POS terminals to accept contactless cards. The first contactless transaction using this card was carried out through the POS terminal of OSCHADBANK JSC. Today, we are moving forward and introducing contactless payments using Prostir cards on the underground. Last June the Bank offered an opportunity for holders of MasterCard contactless cards to pay for travel on the subway using contactless cards,” said Mr Anton Tiutiun, Deputy Chairman of the Management Board of Oschadbank JSC.
Contactless payments were introduced on the Kyiv subway network in June 2015 as part of joint efforts by MasterCard, Oschadbank JSC, the Kyiv Metropoliten municipal enterprise, with the technical assistance provided by Bankomzvjazok JSC and ASTEK consortium. Kyiv became the fifth city in the world (after London, St. Petersburg, Chicago and Bucharest) to launch contactless payment option at turnstiles at the city subway.
According to data released by the NBU, in 2015, the number of active contactless payment cards increased by UAH 0.4 million, reaching over UAH 1.5 million psc. Furthermore, contactless payments are accepted at 88.200 POS terminals (accounting for 50% of operating POS terminals) at popular retailers across Ukraine: supermarkets, cafes, pharmacies and petrol filling stations.