Automatic Fare Collection System (AFCS): The Case of Manila

Contactless smartcards, first implemented in the late 1990s in Hong Kong and Seoul, are increasingly favoured for urban transport fare collection systems.1 Typically the size of a credit card, smartcards hold a microchip which stores and transmits data through radio frequency identification (RFID), allowing the smartcard to communicate with a device (within 10 centimetres) without physical contact. Smartcards are also able to store enough information to process monetary transactions and profile a card holder’s details for security purposes. With these systems, users no longer need coins, tokens or paper tickets.