Beijing subway system is replacing tickets with mobile phones

(Foto: Thyristorchopper)

Forget about waiting in line at the ticket counter. Beijing Metro wants its passengers to swipe their smartphones instead of tickets and prepaid cards. The subway has started promoting the use of mobile payments on the Fangshan Line which runs through the south of the city. Beijing has thus beaten New York, where the local authorities have announced introducing NFC payments by 2018. To use the service, passengers need to download an app and have smartphones with wireless NFC (near-field communication) technology.