📋 Tender Overview
For the first time in Azerbaijan Azerbaijan Railways CJSC Visa the Central Bank of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the International Bank of Azerbaijan are taking joint steps to establish a contactless payment system for passengers on the countrys railways with bank cards.Testing of payments with the help of contactless bank cards and payment rings has already begun. After the completion of technical tests such payments will be possible at several stations on the Absheron ring railway. At the initial stage payments will be made only with Visa contactless cards and payment rings of the International Bank of Azerbaijan. In the next stages of the project this system will be available through contactless payment instruments of all banks and will be applied at all stations of the Absheron ring railway. At present passengers of the Absheron ring railway can pay fares with travel cards or tickets.The project is implemented within the framework of a memorandum of cooperation signed in March 2020 between Azerbaijan Railways Visa the Central Bank of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the International Bank of Azerbaijan. The memorandum envisages a number of measures aimed at the development of contactless payments on the railways and the expansion of non-cash transactions in the transport sector in general. Visa and our strategic partners are about to make a significant contribution to the optimization of the public transport system and the payment process in public transport. We support the efforts of passenger transport operators to develop comfortable transportation solutions in order to create a hassle-free travel experience for passengers. Visas mission is to help Azerbaijani public transport operators transition from cash paper tickets and time travel cards to contactless payments by offering their expertise and payment technologies. The memorandum of understanding reflects our common vision of measures to boost the cashless economy in the country said Christina Dorosh Visas Caucasus Manager. .Commenting on the issue Deputy Chairman of Azerbaijan Railways Vusal Aslanov said We are making efforts to introduce innovations in the railways. This cooperation is one of the important steps we have taken in this direction. We believe that this innovation will serve the comfort of passengers will allow to pay fares very easily quickly and safely.Director General of the Central Bank of the Republic of Azerbaijan Farid Osmanov also saidIn order to digitize the payment ecosystem and develop non-cash payments in our country the Central Bank is implementing a large-scale state program within the Cashless Azerbaijan project. As a result of comprehensive measures implemented under this project compared to 2018 the number of payment cards in our country increased by 37 to 9.1 million and the number of contactless cards increased by 3.6 times to 2.4 million. Given the growth dynamics and high market demand for cashless payments it is advisable to take full advantage of the functionality of contactless cards. I am confident that the successful implementation of the project on the introduction of cashless payment system in railway transport will create favorable conditions for the application of this solution in other modes of transport in our country. Elmir Habibullayev Deputy Chairman of the Board of the International Bank of Azerbaijan said The International Bank of Azerbaijan is one of the largest financial institutions in the South Caucasus region by many criteria. The Bank continues to support the development of cashless payment infrastructure in Azerbaijan and the region. The application of most innovative banking technologies in our country is connected with the name of the International Bank of Azerbaijan. Today the Bank continues to invest heavily in innovation in order to build a customer experience that meets the new challenges of the modern world. The use of contactless bank cards in railway transport will also be one of the successful experiences we have created with our partners and will serve the comfort and satisfaction of our customers.
