New Payment Method on Tap for Salt Lake City Commuters (Oct. 17, 2013)
Commuters in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area starting this week have a new way to pay for fares on buses, trains and streetcars serviced by the Utah Transit Authority. The UTA, in partnership with Atlanta-based InComm, have launched the FAREPAY card, a contactless, closed-loop card that can be loaded with funds from $5 to $500.
Commuters pay $3 to activate the FAREPAY card, and funds can be loaded onto it at any participating retailer, regardless of where they purchased the card. The UTA, which announced plans to add a contactless prepaid card earlier this year, will sell the cards at more than 300 InComm-integrated retail locations in the Salt Lake City area, according to an announcement. If commuters register their cards and they are ever lost or stolen, the cards can be canceled and funds returned.
“We’re seeing a trend within the transportation industry to provide ways for all consumers—whether they are purely cash-based or simply prefer not to pay using credit or debit cards—with alternative methods of payment, such as reloadable cards,” said Phil Graves, InComm executive vice president. “By making these cards available to purchase and reload at various participating retail locations, consumers have more options than ever before to pay for and budget their transportation costs.”
Last month, the Chicago Transit Authority and suburban bus operator Pace debuted its Ventra system for commuters, and Hong Kong’s transit network announced it had begun developing a smartphone-based payment feature.
