Foremost technology company, Interswitch has signed an agreement with UK’s Becoz to introduce a smartcard to be used for public transport in Nigeria.
The agreement was signed on Tuesday between the two parties in Abuja, with the UK Foreign Secretary, Mr Jeremy Hunt, present at the ceremony.
According to Mr Hunt, the technology will be similar to London’s Oyster card system, a form of electronic ticket used on public transport.
“I am delighted that the UK’s Becoz and Nigeria’s Interswitch are going to be signing a £56 million contract to provide transport payment technology, similar to the Oyster Card of transport in London, and it is a sign of how UK technology can drive growth of some of Nigeria’s most innovative companies.
“We are establishing a major research hub in Lagos this year in order to bring together entrepreneurs and innovators; these are long term initiatives with benefits to both Nigeria and the UK.”
Akeem Lawal explained that the card technology system would be built on existing technologies built over the years by the company
According to him, “We have taken all of those technology pieces and we have put it on the infrastructure Interswitch has built over the last 17 years.
“We combine the payment technology with those unique technologies that we have done in partnership with a UK company and we create a solution that will work on Danfo buses, blue buses, in ferries and in trains.
“It will be all across the country; we will start our proof of concept with some of our selected partners in Lagos and Abuja and we will extend to the rest of the country when we are done,” he said.
Lawal said project was a long-term “strategic project” which had sorted out major challenges that would hamper its functionality
