PATCO launches Visa transit card
22 September, 2011
category: Contactless, Transit
PATCO, the high speed rail line that runs between Philadelphia and Camden County, N.J., will introduce new contactless Visa fare cards, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.
The prepaid Visa card will join the existing contactless Freedom card as part of a one-year open fare payments trial on PATCO run by Cubic Transportation Systems. The Visa card has the added bonus of allowing customers to make small purchases at Visa retailers, whereas the Freedom card is just for transit.
Cubic plans to use only Visa PATCO and Freedom cards for the first six months of the trial, after which any contactless credit or debit card will be accepted, according to The Inquirer.
Commuters can get a PATCO “Wave and Pay Anywhere” Visa card at PATCO stations, or online at PATCOpilot.com. Cubic will also provide designated kiosks where customers can load credit onto the card.
Steve Brunner, Cubic vice president for the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions, says they expect “thousands” of PATCO’s customers will adopt the card, adding that “We’d like to have it as big as possible.”
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