MRT-3 begins accepting e-wallet, credit and debit cards

Commuters can now conveniently pay their fares using their existing cards on designated turnstiles.

On Friday, July 25, Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT-3) officially launched its new contactless payment terminals located at its stations.

The project is a partnership between the Department of Transportation (DOTr), BSP (Bangko Sentral Ng Pilipinas), and a number of banks and electronic payment platforms.

These turnstiles are equipped to read Visa and Mastercard credit and debit cards, NFC-enabled phones, and QR codes—making MRT-3 the first in the world to adopt such functionalities into a single payment terminal.

Transportasyon Secretary Vince Dizon said, “First of its kind ito sa whole world. Halos lahat ng payment modes pwede in one device.“

To use the designated terminal, a GCash app user may click the Commute icon to generate a QR code, which must be read by the QR scanner on the turnstile to enter the platform and exit the destination station.

In addition to that, the Tap-to-Pay feature can also be utilized by passengers with NFC-enabled Android phones.

Meanwhile, all Visa and Mastercard-holders can directly tap their cards onto the reader. For those with older EMV chip that would not work on these terminals, the public is advised that they may coordinate with their respective banks for a replacement to use the cashless payment option.

Fares for those using the newly-installed payment terminals will be in accordance with the matrix for single journey tickets (SJT).

“Walang dagdag sa pasahe dito. ‘Yung sistema, kung ano ang ikakaltas sa GCash nyo, sa credit card nyo, sa debit card nyo, pareho lang kung bumili kayo ng single journey ticket,” explained Dizon.

In the coming months, the DOTr aims to make the system available to the Light Rail Transit Lines 1 and 2 (LRT-1 and LRT-2).

Aside from the new methods, MRT-3 continues to accept the reloadable Beep cards, as well as those seeking to buy the single journey tickets (SJT) at its ticket offices.

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