At least 24 companies, including GCash, Visa, and Mastercard, have expressed interest in the Philippine Automated Fare Collection System concession.

The Department of Transportation plans to bid out the project by the end of the year, as first reported by the Inquirer.

The proposed concession aims to unify fare collection across the national rail network. This infrastructure will connect major lines such as MRT 3, LRT 1, LRT 2, and eventually the Metro Manila Subway.

Firms including Siemens Mobility, Hitachi Asia, LG CNS, and Cubic Transportation Systems also participated in a market sounding event in Singapore last month.

“It must be interoperable, interconnected,” said Giovanni Lopez, Acting Transportation Secretary.

The upgraded infrastructure will allow commuters to pay for transit using various cashless methods. Supported options will include credit and debit cards, digital wallets, and other Philippines payments platforms.

The Asian Development Bank is advising the government on the concession search.

The winning concessionaire will take on the development, operations, and maintenance of the automatic fare collection system for all transport modes in the country.

Integrating digital transactions into daily transit is a key step for financial inclusion and cashless mobility in the domestic market. Daily commute transactions drive high user engagement for digital wallets and card networks.

The transport department planning committee is currently reviewing the proposal. The government is targeting a Cabinet committee approval by May.

Officials aim to publish bid documents by June and award the contract by the fourth quarter of this year.

Featured image: Edited by Fintech News Philippines based on an image by awarecreativestudio via Freepik.