NAGA CITY, Camarines Sur (PIA) --- beep™ operator AF Payments Inc. brings the efficiency of its automated fare collection system (AFCS) to commuters in the Bicol region. In partnership with the Barcelona Gubat Sorsogon Transport Cooperative and Prieto Diaz-Gubat-Sorsogon City Transport Service Cooperative, a new era of safe and convenient inter-city travels dawns, along with the rollout of modern jeepneys under the government’s PUV Modernization Program.

Locals, and even tourists, traveling between Gubat and Sorsogon City have begun to enjoy the convenience of cashless and contactless fare payments. An AFCS device is installed in each PUV in the fleet (also possible to install in the transport terminal), and passengers simply tap in and out to pay their fare. Currently, the beep™ card can be bought online on Shopee, Lazada, and Facebook Marketplace while stocks last, and reloaded from the partner transport operators, digital banking and e-wallet partners, and via the beep mobile app.

On the other hand, transport operators experience a modern system that offers not only more efficient payment collection, recording, and remittance but also combats the ills of the manual one, which may include human error and pilferage.

“AF Payments is one with the government and private sector alike in making the transportation system in the Philippines better and more responsive to the needs of the riding public. We offer a robust cashless payment solution that can easily be tailored to the particular requirements of the localities we engage with and bundled with our other PUV modernization-related solutions,” said Sharon Fong, Chief Commercial Officer of AF Payments Inc.

The company has partnered with transport cooperatives all over Metro Manila and in key provinces nationwide. In the Bicol Region, it has previously collaborated with the Bulusan Transport Service Cooperative and Gubat Transport Service Cooperative. This month, the Bulan Transport Cooperative is also gearing up to roll out AFCS in its own fleet.

For the transport sector, beep™ offers a full ecosystem of related business solutions. Apart from the AFCS, this includes a Fleet Management System, QR Ticketing / QR Payment System, Barrier and Gate Solutions, Central Ticketing Solutions, and Queue Management System, all designed to help transport operators manage their daily operations and passenger flow more efficiently. These may also be bundled as packaged services to make it more economical and convenient for the client.

In addition, beep™ helps its partner transport operators make commuting a rewarding experience for the latter’s own customers. This is done through its loyalty program that allows users to earn points for every spend (PHP1 spent = 1 point). They only have to register their card in the beep™ app and then convert their points to freebies or load that can be used as payment in all transportation and retail partners within the entire beep™ network. The app also empowers users to check their balance, monitor their spending, and even reload their card (for NFC-enabled smartphones).

AF Payments Inc. is the consortium of Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) and Ayala Corp. that introduced the stored value beep™ card currently in use in the elevated trains (LRT-1, LRT-2, and MRT-3), select buses and PUVs nationwide, and in partner retail merchants.

Interested cooperatives and transport operators may get in touch via <beep.com.ph/beep-business>. AF Payments Inc. is also tapping into businesses that can provide reloading and card distribution services in the Bicol region to support its aggressive expansion and be able to better serve Filipino consumers.

More information is available at the website <beep.com.ph> and its official Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram accounts.

(Writer: Daisy D. Sabangan, Director, Media Affairs CID Communication/PIA5/Camarines Sur)