STM developing mobile payment system for Android phones

Suretap,a consortium formed byRogers, Bell and Telus,have begun testing mobile payments on Montreal'spublic transit network.

"We want to make it simple for customers to get access to our installations and to our network and this is another way," saidSTM chairmanPhilippeSchnobb.

In the new year, a few hundred employees will test the new payment system, which will allowcommuters to pay fares with their smartphone.

Schnobbsaid there's no timeline right now formobile payments beingavailable to STM riders.

The goal of the tests is only "to make sure it works in real life," he said.

The mobile payments wouldallow commuters to use theirsmartphone to board a bus or the Metro, as they do now with theirOPUS card.

For now, the cost of developingmobilepayments is being shouldered by the companies behind the techand not the STM.

"We made our facilities available to those who made the proposal, because we're all interested in developing the technology," said Schnobb.

Incompatible with Apple for now

The technologyusesNear Field Communication (NFC)to let users electronically pay their fares.

This issimilar to the technology used when commuters tap their OPUS card on a turnstileto enter the Metro.

But, for the time being, it's only being tested on Android.

The problem is Apple does not allow outside organizations like the STM to access theNFC in their phones.

"As longas that's the rule, we can only offer this on Android," saidSchnobb.

There have been rumours thatApple couldchangetheirpolicy in the future.

According to market research by Media Technology Monitorreleased last year, 42 per cent of Canadian smartphone users own a iPhone.

This summer the STM spent $7.6 million on a card reader that allowed commuters to refilltheir Opus cards at home.