The Chisinau City Hall on Match 16 launched the pilot electronic ticketing project in municipal public transport in partnership with Moldova Agroindbank (MAIB) and MasterCard. The project is implemented in 110 units of transport, on trolleybus routes No. 10, 22 and 30 and on bus routes No. 2, and 5, IPN reports.

MAIB first vice president Aliona Stratan said Moldova Agroindbank aims to continuously develop the payment system and infrastructure and this project is one of the bank’s strategic projects to build a smart city. “In everything it has done and developed in the recent past, Moldova Agroindbank aims to bring comfort, convenience and swiftness for its customers. The payment system is very simple: you need any payment instrument, such as card, telephone or smart watch, to hold it near the payment terminal and you will make the payment without any commission. Initially, the conductor will remain in the trolleybus and will collect the fare from passengers. But later, payment terminals will be installed on the units of transport. We are sure that it is an important project for the inhabitants of the city and for visitors,” stated Aliona Stratan.

Mastercard Country Office director Irina Untila said the cashless payment is a response to the needs of users and of the time. The contactless payment is safe, convenient and more hygienic than the payment with cash. The payment can be made with any card issued in the country or abroad or with any other device with an integrated remote payment system. A sound system is emitted when the payment is made successfully and the receipt shows the date, hour and cost of the trip.

Mayor of Chisinau Ion Ceban reiterated that the pilot project will last for six months and will cover the routes with the largest number of passengers. Ticket conductors will not lose their job as at the beginning they will help the commuters to use the devices and will later change their qualifications. The electronic ticketing project is implemented under a public-private partnership.