BEEP and Coins.ph Partner for More Convenient Card Loading

BEEP, the reloadable contactless smart card technology used for fare payments on the LRT and MRT lines, has partnered with Coins.ph, the leading digital wallet app for Filipinos, to launch a new function in the Coins.ph app that helps commuters avoid long queues to top up their BEEP cards.

Using funds from their Coins.ph account, users can load their BEEP cards by simply tapping their card on their phone, similar to how they tap their cards onto a reader on any MRT station.

To enjoy the service, users simply have to visit the Google Play Store to download the latest Coins.ph app onto their near-field communication (NFC)-equipped smart phones. Users must then create their own personal account on the app. Once done, users may simply click on the new BEEP icon to start enjoying the new loading service.

The app is not available for iPhone and other Apple devices. It also cannot be used on smartphones without an NFC feature.

"Coins.ph provides BEEP cardholders the ability to load their cards anytime, anywhere just by tapping their card on their smartphone," said Peter Maher, President and CEO of AF Payments Inc., the operator of BEEP card. "This added convenience means no more falling in line to add load during the busy rush hour."

"Each day, nearly two million Filipinos are forced to wait in long lines to top up their BEEP cards with cash," said Ron Hose, CEO of Coins.ph. "With this collaboration, BEEP cardholders can seamlessly use Coins.ph to load their cards with their phones and make payments anywhere BEEP is accepted. This solution represents a catalytic step forward in a vision that we share with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas of forging an advanced digital economy by 2020."

In addition, with Coin.ph's new BEEP feature, cardholders will also no longer need to go to a card reader to learn about the remaining balance on their cards as the Coins.ph app allows them to do so.

Coins.ph is licensed by the Central Bank of the Philippines as an electronic money issuer and remittance and transfer company. It boasts over four million members and continues to grow, as its reputation continues to spread among unbanked and underbanked Filipinos. Outlets that can be used to input cash into one's Coins.ph wallet include UnionBank, 7-Eleven, Cebuana Lhuillier, M Lhuillier, and GCash.

BEEP cards are accepted in all three elevated railway systems (LRT 1, LRT2, and MRT 3), select bus lines, at CAVITEX and NLEX toll booths, and in select branches of FamilyMart, Robinson's Movieworld, and Wendy's.