People pay cashless at Ben Thanh metro station (District 1) - Photo: PHUONG NHI
The Public Transport Management Center (under the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Construction) said that units are making efforts to synchronize electronic payments for all public transport by 2025.
It takes seconds to pay
If in the past, bus passengers had to worry about changing small bills, now they can complete payment in seconds with just a bank card or e-wallet. In early May 2025, the reporter experienced it on bus route 36 (Ben Thanh - Thoi An).
When we got on the bus, many passengers in front of us swiped their Mastercards into the machine and were immediately notified of successful payment and their tickets were printed just a few seconds later.
Similarly, in the past few days, walking around Ben Thanh station on metro line 1 (Ben Thanh - Suoi Tien), we noted that most passengers at Ben Thanh metro station used cards and e-wallets to pay.
Right at the ticket gate, about 80% of customers chose to pay cashless. Some used bank cards (Napas, Mastercard, Visa), others used e-wallets (MoMo). Another customer tried to pay via the HCMC Metro HURC app and it was also accepted very quickly. The entire process is simple, passengers just tap their card or scan the QR code at the ticket gate to pay.
Ngoc Vu, a student who uses HD Bank's Vikki Go card to pay for metro rides, said that he can use this card to conveniently travel on both metro and inter-city buses. Therefore, he hopes that there will be more incentives for passengers using multiple forms of public transport during the day.
Mr. Thanh Son, a resident of Thu Duc City, shared that he often travels by bus, metro... Recently, the public transport system in Ho Chi Minh City has changed a lot, "transforming" in terms of service quality to better serve the people.
Cashless payment helps customers pay quickly and conveniently, without worrying about running out of change for public transport.
"In the long term, I think the metro should increase more payment methods, such as using CCCD cards. In addition, I hope to cover all buses with cashless payments as soon as possible," Mr. Son suggested.
Improve the quality of public transport, many good incentives
Speaking to Tuoi Tre newspaper, a representative of the Ho Chi Minh City Public Transport Management Center said that the city is the leading locality in applying the electronic ticket system in public transport. It is expected that in the second quarter of 2025, the synchronous implementation of electronic payment will be completed for more than 2,000 buses operating in the area.
This is an important step in modernizing the public transport system, in line with the digital transformation process according to the Government's policy. Thereby, units develop the network and improve the quality of public transport to serve passengers, contributing to reducing private vehicles, reducing congestion, and protecting the environment.
Passengers using public transport simply need to "tap" to pay using the EMV OpenLoop payment model. With this model, passengers can use a variety of payment methods, including domestic and international payment cards; e-wallets; and smart payment methods such as Apple Pay and Google Pay.
This system not only provides more payment options, but also expands access to public transport for all audiences, especially international tourists, foreigners living and working in Ho Chi Minh City, as well as domestic people who are already familiar with using digital wallets and payment methods.
Through this system, state management agencies also build an important database to serve policy planning, operation and management of the bus system in Ho Chi Minh City more effectively and quickly.
Also according to the Public Transport Management Center, by the end of April 2025, the cashless payment system had been deployed for 3 transport units including: Saigon Passenger Transport Joint Stock Company, Ho Chi Minh City Transport Joint Stock Company and Transport Cooperative No. 26. The units are installing equipment on 29 bus routes with a total of 514 vehicles that can pay by card.
In addition, some units have also equipped cashless payment systems such as Phuong Trang FutaBuslines Passenger Transport Joint Stock Company. Specifically, passengers can now use payment cards (Mastercard, Visa, Napas) to buy tickets on the bus, the number is 33 bus routes with 377 buses.
"Thus, the whole of Ho Chi Minh City has 62 subsidized bus routes with 891 cashless payment vehicles. In the second quarter of 2025, the system will continue to expand and strive to complete the set plan.
All newly bid bus routes are required to have a cashless payment system installed. The center is researching and proposing a number of preferential policies to encourage people to use digital payments when using public transport," the center added.
Many attractive incentives for public transport users
Currently, passengers who pay cashlessly will also have certain incentives when participating in traffic. The incentive program depends on the card issuer to encourage people to use public transport with digital payment methods more often.
For example, Mastercard is launching a series of attractive promotions "Mastercard Day". Mastercard and MultiPass cardholders will receive many special offers on a daily basis such as: free metro line 1 tickets; discounted tickets; free public bicycles...
A representative of Sacombank said that recently, the units have coordinated to introduce an open transportation model with an electronic ticket system and launch the Sacombank Mastercard Multipass card - a superior green payment card line.
The card is designed specifically for people who travel frequently such as students, workers... providing utilities and incentives specifically for transportation to create a habit of using public transportation for people such as the same bus fare of 5,000 VND/trip, the same metro fare of 10,000 VND/trip, a direct 5% discount when paying for exercise tickets...
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/cham-de-di-tat-ca-phuong-tien-cong-cong-o-tp-hcm-20250531082857357.htm
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