A fintech company, Touch and Pay Technologies, has announced that rail passengers in Lagos can access the recently launched Blue Rail Line using their contactless Cowry card.

According to the company, its partnership with the Lagos state government would allow people to use the Cowry card on the proposed 13 km of road for the project.

He said the first phase of the track from Marina to Mile-2 would admit 200,000 passengers a day, who can now enter and exit the stations through TAP’s state-of-the-art turnstiles.

In a statement, Touch and Pay Technologies co-founder and CEO Olamide Afolabi said: “We are delighted to facilitate and digitize payment on behalf of the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority. We have implemented our NFC payment solutions on BRT buses, ferries and now trains.

“Our contactless payment solutions have been a great success. We have created a 21st century solution for today’s passengers. Until now, train fares generally worked with low-value cash transactions, while most electronic cards don’t allow payment below $10, which was problematic for many passengers.

“Our Cowry card, which allows for microtransactions between 10 cents and $10, closes this gap. People can now use a modern, digital method to pay for their train rides without carrying large amounts of cash. We are optimistic that even more passengers will discover the benefits of this fast but reliable technology, unifying transport in Lagos for the first time.”

Touch and Pay Technologies Co-Founder and Chief Growth Officer Michael Oluwole added: “Payment is a social issue, not a technological one, so solutions to solve transit payment problems are a priority for us.

“In the past, foreign companies were tasked with solving our local transportation problems. We are pleased to be the first local company to offer this unifying solution.”

NP/Dominica Nwabufo