By Luisa Maria Jacinta C. Jocson, Reporter

MASTERCARD Philippines and AF Payments, Inc. (AFPI), the company that created Beep cards, have launched their tap-and-go payment option for commuters in Bonifacio Global City (BGC), Taguig City.

“We can now use Mastercard credit, debit and prepaid cards at BGC buses,” Mastercard Philippines Country Manager Simon Javier A. Calasanz told a news briefing on Thursday.

“It is the first international payment network to enable tap-and-go payment options in public transport in Metro Manila,” he added.

Mastercard cardholders can now pay for their bus fares on Bonifacio Transport Corp. buses by tapping their cards on validator machines.

This is the first phase of Mastercard and AFPI’s partnership to provide contactless payments across other transport systems, such as EDSA buses and MRT-3.

“That’s just the start,” AFPI President and Chief Executive Officer Jonathan Juan D. Moreno said. “We need to show (it’s manageable) because BGC is a self-contained entity. Then we go for a bus system as extensive as EDSA and then we’ll try rail.”

The partnership seeks to boost digital payments and promote cashless transactions in the country. “It’s really the cash that we’re trying to eliminate,” he said.

About 11 million Beep cards have been issued in the Philippines, half of which remain active.

“We feel that it still is going to be dominated by the stored value card. But we want to give the market a choice,” Mr. Moreno said.

He said there might need to be an adjustment in Beep card transaction fees as the agreement with the government to provide free services comes to a close next year.

“We, in fact, pay the government to provide the service for free,” he said. “And that ends next year. This has been a public service of the Ayala and MVP group that they’ve been providing for free.”

He said they are studying how to fairly price the services. “It has to be viable. As I said, even if this is a public good, it’s undertaken by a private entity like ourselves. We have to have a sustainable economic model to make this go on.”

Mr. Moreno said they are also looking into upgrading the chips used in Beep cards. “We’re now getting regulatory approval already.”

The new chips will be more secure and use more advanced technology but will not cost more, he added.