Riding on any Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) vehicle soon won’t require passes, fare-cards, tokens or cash. As part of a $122.2 million contract with ACS, A Xerox Company, passengers will instead be able to digitally pay their fare with a quick tap or wave of their “contactless” credit or debit card or even their smartphone. SEPTA will be one of the first in the country to offer riders the ability to travel and pay this way.

Passengers riding any of the buses, subways, trolleys or the regional rail trains on the SEPTA system will be able to use this modernized open payment fare collection system. During the three-year implementation, ACS will design, install, integrate and operate one of the country’s most sophisticated transit payment technology systems. The contract also includes two five-year options for continued operations. “This next generation payment system will offer an extraordinary level of convenience, speed and accuracy for customers,” said SEPTA general manager Joseph M. Casey.

The new system will allow passengers to pay their fares using a card many already have in their wallets. It will be more secure due to strict banking industry standards, and more convenient and simpler than fare payment options available elsewhere. It also will allow for seamless travel throughout the entire SEPTA network and provide the capability for future integration with other transit authorities in the region.

For the first time ever, the New Payment Technology will provide SEPTA with precise, real-time business intelligence on all services with the ability to better manage resources, modify services and respond to customer needs. “This new system will allow commuters to spend more time where they want to be and less time getting there or waiting in line,” said Dave Amoriell, chief operating officer, Transportation and Local Government Solutions, ACS.

Working with New Jersey Transit, The Metropolitan Transit Authority (NY) and The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, ACS, was the first to demonstrate that complex, regional fare collection systems can accept regular contactless credit and debit cards. Rider satisfaction surveys showed the majority of riders liked the new payment technology and most preferred it over the current cash, coin, and ticket-based transit payment system.

The ACS team consists of local partners including PRWT, which will provide customer care support; Parsons Transportation Group, which will provide design, engineering and construction support services; and Temple University, which is conducting software development.

ACS systems and services are used by more than 1,000 municipal, regional and national operators in 400 cities worldwide to run more than 150,000 pieces of equipment that enables 50 million passengers per day to use buses, trolleys, tramways and trains. ACS-deployed solutions include more than 50,000 smart card readers on buses, faregates, turnstiles, and other fare collection devices. ACS is the largest provider of transportation services to governments worldwide, with projects in 35 countries.

Visa Europe has been announced as the first sponsor of the London Media Centre, which will provide extensive facilities and news generation services to around 10,000 non-accredited media who are expected to be in the UK during the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Run by the Greater London Authority, the London Media Centre at One Great George Street off Parliament Square (see photo), will welcome journalists from across the world throughout the Games, providing state of the art reporting and distribution facilities and a central London location. The London Media Centre, along with its partners, will also be proactively producing and distributing content to journalists using the centre about the wider London 2012 story on topics such as tourism, finance, economics, lifestyle and technology.

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson said: “With the eyes of the world looking towards London next summer, the 2012 Games will be a major opportunity for firms to promote their brands to audiences right across the globe. It is fantastic to have Visa on board through their sponsorship of the London Media Centre, which will play host to thousands of journalists who will be here to tell the story of what will be the greatest show on earth.”

By sponsoring the London Media Centre, Visa will also share its news with international, European and local journalists. This will include content showcasing mobile and contactless payment innovations at the Games and regular reports on economic impact and consumer spending during Games time as well as providing access to the wide range of athletes in Team Visa.

As the biggest show on earth, Visa plans to use London 2012 to showcase the Future of Payments. It will do so by enabling contactless payments across Olympic and Paralympic Games venues, retail outlets and in the London Media Centre, as well as through its partnership with Samsung to launch the Samsung Olympic and Paralympic Games mobile handset, which will support mobile contactless payments.

Colin Grannell, Head of Partnership Marketing at Visa Europe, said: “As a global sponsor of the Olympic and Paralympic Games we are proud to announce our additional sponsorship of the London Media Centre. We will be sharing our latest news on contactless and mobile payments innovation in and around the Games direct to journalists based at the Centre, as well as showcasing payments technology. We’re working closely with the Greater London Authority to make sure it is the best possible base for non-accredited media throughout the Games.”

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, has already made special arrangements to accommodate journalists at the Centre, equipping it with workspaces for over 250 journalists and press conference facilities to sit 200 members of media. Visa will contribute to this further by providing the Centre with a Visa innovation showcase, regular briefings for media, and up-to-the minute information about consumer spend and Team Visa.

The GLA is looking for several official partners for sponsorship of the London Media Centre. The benefits package will be tailored to deliver each partner’s business objectives and will be worth about £120,000.

Turkcell and Research In Motion have announced the commercial availability of an NFC mobile wallet application, the Turkcell Cep-T Cüzdan, for BlackBerry® Bold™ 9900 smartphone customers in Turkey.

The power of the BlackBerry Bold 9900 combined with the Turkcell Cep-T Cüzdan application enables Turkcell customers to enjoy making payments in a simple, easy, safe and convenient way by simply tapping their NFC-enabled BlackBerry Bold 9900 against a MasterCard PayPass™ reader in shops, retail outlets, cafes and restaurants across Turkey. In addition, Turkcell customers travelling abroad will also be able make payments in the same way .

Alexandra Zagury, Managing Director, Turkey, RIM said, “We are pleased to partner with Turkcell to launch the first commercially available NFC mobile wallet for BlackBerry smartphone customers in Turkey. RIM is committed to supporting the advancement of NFC technology and today’s launch marks an exciting milestone for the future of mobile commerce.”

Cenk Bayrakdar,  Turkcell Deputy General Manager, Turkcell said, “Turkey is leading the way internationally in mobile financial services, especially NFC. The Turkcell Cep-T Cüzdan application for the BlackBerry Bold 9900 opens up  a new era of shopping, enabling simple, secure and convenient mobile payments at approximately 60000 contactless points of sale across Turkey.  The security features of BlackBerry smartphones make RIM the ideal partner for enabling NFC-based mobile payments.” 

From now on, Turkcell’s BlackBerry Bold 9900 customers can apply for the Turkcell Cep-T Cüzdan service  at Turkcell stores. Customers will be provided with a new NFC-enabled SIM and advised on how to download the Turkcell Cep-T Cüzdan application for free. As part of the registration process the customer’s MasterCard  details will be securely registered by Turkcell to enable payments of up to 35 TL per transaction with no pin or signature, using their BlackBerry Bold 9900.  For payments over 35 TL, pin or signature support is also required.

The BlackBerry Bold 9900 and BlackBerry® Curve™ 9360 smartphones are the world’s first SIM-based smartphones to receive MasterCard PayPass handset certification for secure NFC payments.

Global digital service design company Fjord and World Design Capital (WDC) Helsinki 2012 organization have launched a mobile application for WDC Helsinki 2012. The app ‘WDC 2012′, released on January 4, is a ‘digital programme book’ which delivers the programme and actively follows WDC Helsinki 2012 news and event updates.

Smartphone users can easily download the WDC 2012 app via NFC ‘shortcuts’ – the nearly 20,000 UPM BullsEye™ NFC tags featuring NXP Mifare UL chips, embedded in posters and stickers around the city of Helsinki and a number of locations in surrounding cities during 2012.

The WDC 2012 app is always up to date and is easy to use and carry around. It is also the first World Design Capital programme ever provided as a mobile application. In addition to current highlights and the WDC Helsinki 2012 programme sorted by time and location, users will have access to a map, a monthly calendar and information related to around 300 WDC projects and their location in Helsinki. The app is available for tourists and city residents in English, Finnish and Swedish.

For traditional downloading the app is free at the WDC Helsinki 2012 website, www.wdchelsinki2012.fi and from online application stores. It is available for Android and Nokia phones, and will be released in the near future for Apple iPhones and iPad tablets.

World Design Capital Helsinki 2012 is a platform for various participants and a joint venture between the Finnish cities of Helsinki, Espoo, Vantaa, Kauniainen and Lahti.  The World Design Capital is an initiative by the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design (ICSID). Every second year, the ICSID recognizes a global city for accomplishments in using design as a tool to improve social, cultural and economic life. The first World Design Capital was Turin, Italy in 2008 and the second was Seoul, South Korea in 2010.

“It’s been a great experience to design the WDC 2012 mobile application and work together with innovative partners like UPM. We wanted to create an application that is meaningful, easy to use and relevant for everyone interested in the World Design Capital and visiting Helsinki during the year. With the introduction of NFC technology, we can improve the first-time user experience and make it easier for users to get access to the application. This is a great example of digital service design, which is becoming more and more important as our everyday lives are being digitized,” says Olli Mannerkoski, Managing Director, Fjord Nordics.

“World Design Capital Helsinki 2012 and Fjord have done a great job by creating such a user-friendly mobile application for Helsinki visitors. With the NFC tags providing direct shortcuts to download the app, WDC Helsinki 2012 is truly showing a strong commitment to combining technology and design. That’s what WDC Helsinki 2012 really stands for – embedded design. The visitors will love it,” says Mikko Nikkanen, Business Development Director, UPM RFID.