INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
Commuters using Metro Manila’s elevated train system have more options for reloading their Beep cards.
AF Payments Inc. said in a statement Tuesday that it recently launched a partnership with Bayad Center, whose network spans about 1,000 collection sites in the capital district alone. AF Payments is led by Metro Pacific Investments Corp. and Ayala Corp. It operates the Beep card fare payment system now used in the Metro Rail Transit Line 3 as well as Light Rail Transit Line 1 and LRT-2.
With the partnerships, AF Payments said about 60 Bayad Center outlets “nearest the train stations” now serve as reloading points for Beep cards. More of its network will be included in the “coming months”.
Tambunting, Villarica, and SM Business Centers are all part of Bayad Center’s payment collection network, the company added.
“After the full implementation in all three rail lines, our second order of business is expanding our loading network. We are committed to helping commuters save time, and an important part of this is to find convenient loading points outside of the stations. Bayad Center is the perfect starting point because of their huge network, covering virtually all of Metro Manila,” Peter Maher, CEO and President of AF Payments, said in the statement.
“The 1.5 million daily train riders are the same people who trust Bayad Center for their bills,” Manuel Lorenzo Tuason, Bayad Center President and CEO, said in the same statement.
Bayad Center branches and their authorized partner-stores are located near train stations. This means commuters were provided more options to load up their cards.
Maher said they were working on expanding the use of the Beep card for cashless transactions in buses, toll roads, and retail.
AF Payments was born after Metro Pacific and Ayala won in 2014 the Automated Fare Collection System public private partnership project of the transportation department. The company promised to deliver a multi-use payment card similar to Hong Kong’s Octopus platform. CDG/rga
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