开元棋牌

An international visitor is using the tap-and-go service at a Metro fare gate in this file photo. Photos courtesy of Shenzhen Metro

Starting yesterday, all fare gates at every station across the Shenzhen Metro network officially accept tap-and-go payments from overseas bank cards.

The contactless tap-and-go payment service at fare gates now supports China UnionPay, Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and JCB, provided the cards are contactless and their holders have enabled small-value password-free payments. 

Bank cards issued in more than 200 countries and regions are accepted. The back-end system automatically handles currency conversion and fare deduction.

China UnionPay, Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and JCB cards are accepted.

Shenzhen Metro launched the service on a trial basis on June 30. As of yesterday, the service was handling an average of 2,205 international bank card transactions per day, with a single-day peak of 7,369, and had served more than 150,000 passenger trips by overseas cardholders.

Passengers can also use overseas bank cards to tap at the gates and ride the business carriage on Line 11. 

Besides, they can use such cards to purchase a child ticket at customer service centers or self-service ticket machines in Metro stations.

An upgraded fare gate at a Metro station.

The fare gates have also been upgraded with improved bilingual interfaces, voice reminders, and animations that indicate whether a payment has been successful.

The Metro has placed bilingual “Tap-and-Go” instruction guides at 30 hub stations, including Luohu, Airport, and Gangxia North stations. Staff have also been trained to assist overseas visitors who have difficulty using the service.

The feature was introduced ahead of the 33rd APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting, to be held in Shenzhen in November, to help global visitors navigate the city more easily.