Beijing Daily

June 15, 2025 15:04 Beijing

According to the Beijing Municipal Commission of Transport, the People's Bank of China Beijing Branch, and the Beijing Financial Regulatory Bureau, in order to further optimize the payment convenience for urban rail transit in Beijing, enhance the quality of services for inbound tourists, and support Beijing's development as an international consumer city, starting from June 15, 2025, Beijing's urban rail transit has added support for contactless tap-and-go gate passage and ticket purchase/replenishment using JCB cards issued overseas and American Express cards issued both domestically and internationally.

This is another significant upgrade in payment convenience for both domestic and international passengers in the transportation sector in Beijing, following the support for Mastercard and Visa in September 2024. With this, Beijing's urban rail transit has become the world's first urban rail system to fully cover payment services from five major card organizations: China UnionPay, Mastercard, Visa, JCB, and American Express.

This service upgrade covers the entire network of 29 operational lines (including 2 airport lines, Xijiao Line, and Yizhuang T1 Line), 523 stations, and the suburban railway S2 Line, supporting tap-and-go gate passage at all gates, all day, and at all times. Passengers do not need to purchase tickets in advance or download any applications; they can simply tap their cards on the gate's induction area for instant passage.

Since the launch of the pioneering contactless card payment service for overseas bank cards in China's mainland on September 13, 2024, bank cards from over 130 countries and regions have been used in Beijing's urban rail transit scenarios, achieving "zero complaints" in services. The lines with high usage include Line 1, Line 2, Line 5, Line 8, Line 13, and Line 19.

Going forward, Beijing's urban rail transit will continue to explore more convenient service measures to provide a richer and more diverse range of payment options for domestic and international passengers, continuously optimize the business environment, and enhance the quality of travel services.

Source: Beijing Daily https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/Tg-YOZmcvUmvqXX0iYW7dQ