'Telefonica O2 Germany joins NFC ticketing pilot Touch&Travel'

Telefonica O2 Germany has joined the Touch&Travel NFC-based mobile ticketing pilot of German railway Deutsche Bahn as a partner. O2 and the DB intend to commercially launch Touch&Travel together with other project partners Vodafone Deutschland, T-Mobile Deutschland, the Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe (BVG) and the Verkehrsbetrieb Potsdam (ViP) as well partners from the industry. The trial service is based on a NFC payments application which once downloaded allows users to purchase tickets before starting their journeys. To pay for transportation, users need to wave their switched-on mobile phones against NFC terminals installed in transport stations when they start their journey (touch in) and repeat the procedure at check out (touch out). The transport fares are automatically calculated and subsequently debited from the subscribers' card accounts which are linked to their phone numbers. The invoices are issued on a rotational basis by DB, for example, at the end of the month. With this service, users do not need to purchase more than one ticket to reach their destination, as the service ensures the transition to other means of transport such as bus services. The Telefonica Group is taking part in similar NFC projects in countries such as UK and Spain.

Distributed for DMeurope.com via M2 Communications (www.m2.com)

Related terms: germany, pilot, spain, transportation