Rio de Janeiro's public transit ticketing operator, RioCard, is to provide resident commuters and visitors passing through the capital during this year's Olympic games with contactless wristbands.
Contactless transit cards were first adopted by RioCard in Rio de Janeiro in 2003. The transit operator says the new wearabe payment band is one of the major innovations being introduced to improve the infrastructure in preparation for 500,000 expected foreign visitors for this year's Olympic Games.
Gemalto is supplying RioCard with its waterproof Celego Contactless MiniTag wristband and its Celego Contactless MiniTag Sticker both embedded with a contactless chip and certified by Visa and MasterCard enabling all the functionalities of traditional contactless EMV cards.
Cassiano Rusycki, CEO, RioCard, says: “The success of recent contactless projects with Gemalto, like the Lille project in France and Visa’s wearable wristband in Brazil have motivated this solution which builds a technological legacy enabling streamlined transportation and improved peace of mind for travelers.”
Official Games sponsor Visa is going all in on wearable payments at this year's event, unveiling a suite of contactless watches, bracelets and rings.