NFC TIMES Exclusive Insight – Transport officials in Australia have released figures on use of contactless payments in Sydney and New South Wales, showing that customers tap their contactless credit and debit cards and NFC devices for an average of 1.5 million transactions per week, accounting for a relatively small but respectable number of transactions.
Still, around 90% of fare payments continue to be conducted with Sydney’s closed-loop Opal card, and the New South Wales government appears to have no intention of replacing Opal with open-loop contactless.
Despite the growing demand for contactless payments, Paul Toole, acting minister for regional transport and roads for New South Wales, said in a statement Thursday that there was “still demand” for the closed-loop Opal card. He said the government is “aiming to create more digital products,” including trialing a digital Opal card.