Touch and Pay Technologies (TAP), a Nigerian fintech company, has announced that its contactless Cowry card can now be used to access the newly launched Blue Rail Line in Lagos.
The infrastructure enabling contactless payment cards to be used on buses, ferries, and now trains was first made available in Nigeria by TAP. With its processing of small transactions between $10 and $10, the business is advancing financial inclusion among Nigeria’s mostly unbanked populace.
The 13 kilometers of track that is planned for the project are accessible to Lagos citizens thanks to a cooperation with the Lagos state government and the Cowry card. The first section of the track, from Marina to Mile-2, can accommodate 200,000 people per day who may now enter and depart stations using TAP’s cutting-edge turnstiles. Up to 500,000 daily passengers will be able to move between stations, buses, and ferries with ease after phase two, from Mile 2 to Okokomaiko, is finished.
64 million adults in Nigeria lack access to banks, which restricts their capacity to withdraw cash for use on public transit. To address this issue, TAP developed the Cowry card.
A digital payment method called the Cowry card is used to pay for transportation. It has been adopted in six states and has facilitated 3.5 million contactless bus payments per month. TAP’s pay-as-you-go card will significantly reduce fare evasion with the inclusion of trains and enable microtransactions between 10 cents and $10.
