Beijing has further upgraded its rail transit services with innovative measures.

Building on the existing support for UnionPay cards and QR code payments, all the 27 operating lines of the city's urban rail network (including two airport expresses, Xijiao Line, and Yizhuang T1 Line), as well as 490 stations across the network, are now available for contactless card swiping with overseas bank cards at all fare gates. In addition, the suburban Line S2 has also been equipped with this capacity.

At 0:00 on September 13, the contactless card swiping service for overseas Mastercards and Visa cards was officially launched, with JCB cards to be included in the service list in the near future.

On the morning of September 13, a foreign passenger entered the Caoqiao subway station, and swiped his overseas bank card at a fare gate, which then opened without any delay. According to the station staff, if a foreign passenger travels with many friends, he/she can also buy tickets for them with his/her overseas bank card at the self-service machines. In addition, Beijing plans to launch an international version of the "Yitongxing" App, which will support registration with overseas mobile phone numbers and foreign identity authentication, to allow foreign passengers to take the subway by scanning QR codes at ease.

To make its payment services even more convenient, Beijing has established demonstration areas on payment services for overseas passengers  as well as payment service consulting centers at both Beijing Capital International Airport and Beijing Daxing International Airport. Since their establishment, these facilities have provided over 20,000 consultations to foreign passengers. In addition, about 18,000 key consumption sites now accept foreign bank cards in payment services. Meanwhile, facilities for foreign currency exchange are available at all four-star hotels and above, as well as major cultural and tourism sites.

Regarding public transport, the prepaid BEIJING PASS cards are now available in Beijing, which can be used for taking over 1,700 bus lines, 28 rail lines, and more than 20,000 taxis. All the high-speed railway stations and subway stations across the city have over 1,000 POS machines installed, with all their ticket windows accepting foreign bank cards.

(Source: Beijing Daily App)