New bank Card Embedding Transportation Application
- Romania central bank (BCR) partners with Bucharest transportation network (RATB) and launches Zambet, a debit card embedding a transportation application. The cardholder can access public transportation services using this new card.
- The corresponding amount is directly debited from his bank account.
- The BCR and the RATB settled a first partnership in 2007 and developed several solutions designed to top-up the ACTIV transportation card. In 2009 already, users could reload their card at BCR’s ATMs, through the bank’s e-commerce platform and at RATB points of sale.
- Romania, and, most of all Bucharest, is a particularly mature contactless payment market. Bucharest is the second town after London to have developed a medium that can be used both as a means of payment and for transportation. Also, in June, the BRD (Société Générale group) will launch a similar contactless card.
- Contactless payment initiatives are not new to this country, in 2008, Garanti Bank partnered with MasterCard to launch the first contactless payment project in Romania, based on PayPass technology.