Allowing faster and more convenient commutes for passengers of the line.
On Monday, July 13, the Light Rail Transit Line 2 (LRT-2) officially launched the new cashless turnstiles, which were made possible through a partnership between the Department of Transportation (DOTr), Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC), Visa, the Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA), and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).
These new turnstiles allow passengers on the LRT-2 to pay fares using Visa and Mastercard debit and credit cards, NFC-enabled mobile and wearable devices, and other digital payment options such as the GCash Commute QR feature.
The said fare payment option is now available at all stations from Recto in Manila all the way to Antipolo in Rizal.
“Malaking bagay ito sa mga pasahero natin sa linya sa LRT-2 lalo na sa mga estudyante ngayong pasukan,” noted DOTr Secretary Giovanni Lopez. “Mas madali na ang pag-commute dahil mayroon na tayong digital payment system. Alam naman natin na ang dinaraanan ng LRT-2 ay University Belt kaya convenient ito lalo na sa mga pasahero nating estudyante.”
As for Undersecretary for Railways Timothy John Batan, this move also aims to prevent the card shortage that was caused by tha lack of chips in the past from recurring.
“At ang ginagawa po natin ngayong araw na ito, ay ang magdagdag ng pagpipilian. To give more choices to our commuters for LRT-2. At nang sa ganoon, yung mga nangyari po sa nakaraan na nauubusan po tayo ng cards, nauubusan po tayo ng chips, ay hindi na po mangyayari ulit. Goodbye card shortage, isa po yan sa mga pangako ng proof-of-concept na ito,” Batan said.
Commuters only need to use their preferred digital payment method at the dedicated RCBC fare gates upon entry and again at the RCBC-enabled exit fare gates when leaving the station.
Department of Finance Secretary Frederick Go also announced that RCBC will offer a PISO Fare Cashback Promo from July 13 to 31, 2026.
Under which, commuters using their MySSS Card Powered by RCBC DiskarTech will pay only ₱1 for qualified LRT-2 rides, with the fare exceeding ₱1 credited back to their accounts within three banking days — valid for up to eight qualified rides per day.
The bank also shared in its webpage that it is also applicable to RCBC Credit and Debit Cardholders.
Meanwhile, GCash for Business General Manager, Paul Albano of G-Xchange Inc., said: “We are committed to partnering with the government to modernize payments in public transportation and make commuting easier for more Filipinos. Through payment innovation and strong public-private collaboration, we aim to support nation-building and help create a more inclusive digital economy.”
Moving forward, GCash said it also aims to enable GCash Tap-To-Pay and GCash Visa card for more seamless entry and exit across all stations.
According to the Light Rail Transit Authority, LRT-2 served over 58.7 million passengers in 2025.
That same year, the cashless system was also made available on the Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT-3), which sees higher daily ridership than Line 2 at nearly 400,000 commuters each day.