The News

Inside powers first contactless public transit payments in latin america

30/03/2010

MicroPass 4003 at Heart of New MasterCard PayPass Launch in Rio de Janeiro

AIX-EN-PROVENCE, FRANCE, March 30th, 2010 – INSIDE Contactless, a leading provider of advanced, open-standard contactless chip technologies, today announced that its award-winning MicroPass® 4003 contactless intelligent payment processor is powering the MasterCard® PayPass™ contactless payment technology recently launched in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.   Housed in a convenient key fob form factor and employing a unique antenna design, the MicroPass 4003 is the first contactless payment technology introduced in Latin America that people can use to pay their fare on public transportation systems.

Credicard MasterCard cardholders in Rio de Janeiro can use their MicroPass-powered key fobs to quickly and easily pay at the Pão de Açúcar (Sugarloaf Mountain) lift, Supervia train stations, UCI cinemas, McDonald's fast food restaurants and Estapar/Riopark parking lots throughout the city, and will soon be able to use them at the Rio de Janeiro Metro system.  Redecard, the Brazilian acquiring company, plans to add more PayPass merchant acceptance locations in the near future.
“Since its introduction last fall, these key fobs have enjoyed wide acceptance, especially amongst the city’s younger cardholders, and we are already preparing the next shipment of inlays to keep up with the demand,” said Bertrand Moussel, executive vice president of sales, EMEA and LATAM at INSIDE Contactless.  “We worked closely with Giesecke & Devrient to develop the key fob and to create a product that will enhance the user experience through the speed and convenience of contactless technology.”

G&D’s key fobs are manufactured using a specially designed inlay based upon the MicroPass 4003 contactless payment platform, which was designed from the ground up to support MasterCard PayPass contactless payment application, and employs a special high performance antenna design that fits within the small form factor.

Rio de Janeiro was chosen for the Brazil launch because of its robust infrastructure, dynamic and young population and its appeal as a key tourist destination; particularly from countries where PayPass is already widely used, such as Europe, Canada and the U.S.

"INSIDE Contactless is a reliable technology partner with vast experience who has been providing the high-performance, certified contactless payment solution for this key fob form factor to our manufacturing facility in Brazil," said Karina Prado Dannias, Sales Director - Payment and New Business at G&D.  "Through our partnership, we have been able to deliver this
innovative solution to Credicard MasterCard cardholders in Rio de Janeiro and help make their transit and other payments more convenient."

Since it was first launched at CARTES in November of 2005, the award-winning MicroPass intelligent payment platform has achieved its unprecedented success by continuing to deliver superior performance and flexibility, and is now the platform of choice for certified card manufacturers around the world.