O-CITY and DSK Bank's team up to launch contactless payments in Bulgarian public transport

BPC's smart city payment division  O-CITY has partnered with DSK Bank in Bulgaria and its subsidiary DSK Mobile. Together the companies have accelerated Sofia's digital payment transformation in mass transit by enabling an open loop contactless EMV card to pay directly into the transport vehicle, which allows travelers across the capital to experience contactless payments.

Passengers can now pay using contactless Visa or Mastercard bank cards issued by any bank or fintech company across the world or respective NFC mobile wallet, in 3,900 validators installed across the capital's public ground transportation system including buses, trams, trolleybuses.

The project will see 450 stations across the metro system accept payments in a second phase. With Visa Mass Transit and Mastercard Pay As You Go solutions, a payment can be processed in milliseconds and reduces the need for cash, as the bank card can be used as a 'ticket' on public transport.

With a population of 1.3 million people and around 0.5 million guests daily, Sofia sees its residents and visitors getting a superior travel experience which will continue to be improved with the new payments system.

O-CITY ensures passengers can seamlessly and securely tap- to-pay with their bank card in public transport or any other means of payment, wallet, QR code and more. The rollout has come at a time when the pandemic has boosted the adoption of contactless payments everywhere in response to social distancing and contact-free precautions.