Beep Cards to Widen Services to Provincial Buses, Car Parks

AF Payments Inc., the company behind the Beep payment system used in the Metro Railway Transit (MRT) and Light Railway Transit (LRT) lines, is planning to expand its reach to provincial buses and car parks in 2019.

During a recent press conference, Peter Maher, AF Payments Inc.'s president and CEO, revealed his company's plans to serve more passengers by expanding its payment services to more modes of transportation.

"2018 has been a productive year for Beep," Maher said. "It allowed us to form strategic alliances and establish more innovative ways to extend our service to a wider public."

"There's a lot of change in the jeepney sector, including the formation of larger cooperatives. AF Payments has partnered with banks offering loans to these cooperatives. We've contracted with five players so far, which represent about a thousand jeeps," he added.

Maher also disclosed that his company is currently in talks with various parking establishments in the Metro, and is targeting to implement cashless payment transactions in some of them as the Christmas season approaches.

Aside from the MRT and LRT, Beep cards are also now in use in point-to-point buses, modern jeepneys, and even e-trikes plying Metro Manila's busy streets, as well as with food establishments like Wendy's and Binalot. Recently, Beep made Saint Jude Catholic School the first Beep-integrated educational institution to allow students to purchase cash-free from merchants within the campus premises.

Nevertheless, Maher said that "transportation has been and will continue to be our core strength."

Maher claims that there are over five million Beep cards in use today, with a wide range of applications, from transportation to retail and other services.