Dubai: Special Nol-enabled SIM cards that are required to make public transport payments using smartphones will be available early next year, a senior Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) official told Gulf News.
RTA yesterday announced that commuters using silver NOL cards will be able to pay fares using their smart phones from early next year.
The service will be available for commuters using Near Field TechNology (NFC) equipped-handsets, provided they have a Nol-enabled SIM card.
“We are working closely with telecom providers Etisalat and du to make sure the SIM cards are available in the market as soon as possible,” said Mohammad Yousuf Al Mudharreb, Director of Unified Automated Fare Collection Department at RTA.
To avail the mobile payment facility a commuter has to replace his current SIM with the Nol-enable SIM card, which has an application and an e-purse.
Balance in the e-purse can be credited either online at www.nol.ae or through ticket counters at Metro stations.
“All Nol-enabled SIM users will have an application in their smartphone through which they can check their balance, check previous transactions as well as their card numbers,” informed Al Mudharreb.
The NFC is currently available on a selected few smart phones like Samsung Galaxy S3, Blackberry etc.
He added that beginning 2013, the telecom service providers will publish a list of compatible handsets.
NFC is a set of standards for smartphones to establish radio communication with each other by touching them together or bringing them into close proximity.
