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IMMEDIATE RELEASE
  
BART TRIAL FIRST TO USE MOBILE PHONES TO PAY FOR FARES & FOOD
LIMITED TRIAL WITH FIRST DATA AND JACK IN THE BOX USES NEAR
FIELD COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY
January
29, 2008 - OAKLAND, CA – Today a select group of
BART riders is helping to launch a first-in-the-nation technological
trial that will allow participants to walk up to any BART fare gate
with a specially-equipped Sprint wireless phone and pay for their
ride by tagging the phone on a reader located on top of the gate.
Once through the gate, the 230 trial participants can hold their
specifically-equipped Sprint mobile phone up to certain Jack in
the Box® and Sprint “smart advertisements” on BART
station walls and download either directions to the nearest Jack
in the Box restaurant or content from Sprint. Then, after taking
the train to their favorite Jack in the Box location, participants
can use their phone to pay for their meal. All this thanks to a
developing new technology called “Near Field Communication”
(NFC) and First Data Corporation - a global technology leader in
the payments industry providing end-to-end solutions for credit,
debit, loyalty and stored value transactions.
HOW
THIS FIRST-IN-NATION TRIAL WORKS
During
a news conference at the Powell Street BART Station in San Francisco
today, the details were unveiled for the launch of this first-in-the-nation,
four month trial. This trial is much different from others in that
it is the first to give participants the added benefit of automatically
receiving the discounts and offers which companies usually only
provide to customers who have enrolled in their loyalty programs.
In the past, other pay-by-mobile-phone trials have just allowed
customers to pay for goods and services using a credit card tied
to their phone, which often prevented them from automatically receiving
the discounts merchants provide. However, in this trial participants
will automatically get those special discounts. For example, participants
will automatically get the 6.25% discount BART provides those who
purchase high-value tickets.
Beginning
today, pre-selected trial participants will exchange their existing
mobile phones for the Sprint trial phones embedded with the NFC
enabled smart chip – a chip that will allow them to securely
pay for both their fares and their fries. “In BART’s
case, a participant will initially have a stored value of $48 worth
of BART rides loaded onto their NFC enabled mobile phone,”
BART Director James Fang said. “Once the stored value drops
below $10 the NFC technology automatically reloads the phone ‘over
the air’ with another $48 worth of rides and the customer
will automatically receive our high-value discount, so they will
only be charged $45.”
“Additionally,
participants can check their balance using their phones at any time.
We’re very hopeful this type of technology catches on because
the implications are widespread - including making BART more convenient
since riders won’t need to spend time buying a paper ticket
and making BART ‘greener’ since we won’t have
to print as many paper tickets” Fang said.
“Sprint
is looking forward to evaluating the results from the preliminary
trial of this new technology It has the potential to allow trial
participants to quickly manage their daily commute and make payments
using the one device they carry with them throughout the day,”
said Thad Langford, vice president, strategic partners and innovation,
Sprint. “For trial users, this capability could complement
the many other phone applications that Sprint offers, including
music, video, navigation, walkie-talkie and more, that make customers’
lives more productive and enjoyable.”
“First
Data is pleased to bring its stored value solutions together with
its robust payments infrastructure capable of processing transactions
anytime, anywhere and from any device, including mobile phones,”
Barry McCarthy, president of First Data Mobile Solutions said. “Through
our demonstrated commitment to the mobile commerce space, First
Data will enable easier acceptance of payments for merchants and
make the purchase of goods and services convenient and secure for
consumers. We’re excited to be on the forefront of this evolving
technology where First Data will play a pivotal role in the development
of new-to-the-world mobile solutions.”
IMPORTANT
PARTNERSHIPS
There
are several other companies playing important roles in this trial:
Acumen Transit developed software for the NFC mobile
phone implementation as well as performed custom hardware engineering
for a demonstration to simulate the use of NFC technology; Cubic
Transportation Systems is BART's sole provider of automatic
fare collection equipment and participated in the overall systems
integration of this project. Cubic envisions significant enhancements
to patron convenience and transit operating cost profiles by virtue
of collaborative relationships like those assembled in this trial;
Booz Allen Hamilton - a global strategy and technology
consultant - facilitated the strategy development. It also leads
the business case analysis and is providing project management support;
NXP Semiconductors, which is the leading manufacturer
of NFC chips and co-creator of NFC technology, developed the chips
for the Sprint NFC enabled mobile phones to facilitate secure, contactless
communication between the mobile devices and BART’s fare gate
readers; Samsung Mobile, which has had a long history
of bringing innovative technology to the workplace, is the sole
handset provider for this NFC trial; ViVOtech developed
the NFC software for the mobile phones and the Over-the-Air (OTA)
card provisioning servers that Sprint is using for the trial –
enabling participants to remotely download their BART fare and Jack
Ca$h™ gift cards onto their mobile phones, check their card
balances, review previous transactions, automatically top up their
cards and use their phones to pay for BART fares and Jack in the
Box food. ViVOtech also provides the contactless payment devices
that read the NFC enabled chips at Jack in the Box restaurants;
Western Union® Payment Services provides the
self service internet options for participants to register their
payment information and processes the automatic top up payment when
a BART rider's stored value drops below $10. Participants can also
review any historical payment information or change their payment
information over the internet.
Check out the latest videos of the new BART trial:
Contact:
Linton Johnson
Chief Spokesperson
BART Media & Public Affairs
510-464-7139 Desk
510-899-2285 Pager
ljohnso@bart.gov
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