While the e-ticketing system will be on trial in public transport in Chisinau, ticket conductors will have payment terminals on them and will help city commuters to use the new NFC (near field communication) service. With contactless mobile payments, travellers can use contactless debit or credit cards or their smartphone wallet to pay for transport tickets. They can simply hold the device near the payment terminal and the ticket is purchased. When the payment is made, the terminal issues a sound and prints the receipt with the price, date and hour of the trip, IPN reports.

The Chisinau City Hall said debit or credit cards of any Moldovan or other bank are accepted, of different payment systems. Customers can also pay with other NFC-enabled devices, such as smart watches compatible with Garmin Pay. Cash payments for tickets in public transport will also be possible. The conductor will take the money from the traveler and will hold a special card near the payment terminal that will provide a receipt.

The fares remained the same: 2 lei for a trip by trolleybus and 3 lei for a trip by bus.

According to the Chisinau City Hall, the most popular trolleybus routes, No. 10, 22 and 30, and bus routes No. 2 and 5 will be outfitted with mobile payment terminals by end-March.

The payment solution is based on the Mastercard contactless payment technology. Moldova Agroindbank is the acquirer-bank of the project.