Indra Group equips the new direct bank card payment system with its technology at Metro Madrid turnstiles
Indra has upgraded 1,200 readers at 800 access control points and turnstiles across the network with its proprietary developments, and implemented the payment gateway of Indra Group company Nuek, which connects the back office of Metro de Madrid with the banks
The solution, which is already operational, allows payments with cards and contactless mobiles, without any physical tickets or proprietary apps. The pricing is daily and consists of a single accumulated charge to facilitate payments, accessibility and, in particular, the movements of non-frequent travelers
Nuek has adapted the payment infrastructure to ensure that the contactless access works smoothly and securely, in such a way that the system also covers the collection management via the passenger portal
Indra Group will equip Metro de Madrid’s new system with its technology to enable users to access the service by holding their bank cards and mobiles up to the readers at the access control points without the need for a physical ticket or proprietary application, thereby improving the experience of the passengers, particularly ones who only use the subway occasionally, by eliminating intermediate steps such as ticket purchases and top-ups.
Indra’s Mobility business has updated its state-of-the-art proprietary technology for the 1,200 readers at the 800 access control points and turnstiles it has installed across the Metro de Madrid network since 2021, while Nuek, Indra Group’s payments company, has implemented the payment gateway that connects Metro de Madrid’s back office to the banking systems.
Indra has supplied highly advanced ticketing solutions to Metro de Madrid over the last few decades. Its state-of-the-art access control systems and vending machines were first installed at the refurbished Gran Vía station five years ago with the aim of improving accessibility and the traveler experience by reducing barriers, facilitating movement, and being able to incorporate the latest technologies for the turnstiles, thanks to their innovative readers. The vending machines have an aesthetic and usability similar to that of a touch screen mobile device and they show passengers information and multimedia content that they can interact with.
In Nuek’s case, Metro de Madrid has been operating with its payment gateway for card payments at its vending machines since 2002.
“Being a technological partner of Metro de Madrid, a customer that always advocates innovation to offer the very best service to travelers, poses a challenge for Indra and provides an opportunity to serve as a global benchmark. “The state-of-the-art technological developments we’ve successfully implemented in Spain have opened the door to major international projects, enabling us to declare that Indra is now one of the top three companies in the world in terms of technology for urban public transport”, highlighted José Benito García Cuéllar, director of Transit Spain for Indra’s Mobility business.
According to Nuek CEO Javier Rey Aylón, the ambitious Metro de Madrid project “will bring urban mobility closer to the way we pay in our daily lives: directly and seamlessly. We’re therefore striven to ensure that this experience is simple for passengers and robust behind the scenes, connecting access validation with payment management and processing. When it comes to an essential service and a high-traffic environment, reliability and safety aren’t extras, they’re the starting conditions”.
The process is straightforward for passengers, as they just have to move their contactless bank card or mobile phone closer to the turnstile reader to validate their entry; they can do this as often as is necessary throughout the day, and the system then groups the journeys associated with the card or device together, calculates the fare and processes a single accumulated payment, getting rid of separate charges for each journey. The solution also encompasses the use of all contactless bank cards, including VISA, Mastercard, Diners/Discover, UPI (China Union Pay) and JCB.
Grouped payments
During the project Nuek has adapted its payment gateway to collect the access validations generated at the turnstiles (through the different integrators) and send them to the back office that manages the operations and collections. The company has also adjusted the gateway that operates in Metro de Madrid’s systems to manage the payment operations (e.g. queries, collections, recoveries, and refunds) and send them to the Redsys payment platform for processing.
The roll-out of this new payment system is part of an initiative co-financed by the European NextGenerationEU funds aimed at fostering the modernization of essential public services while driving tangible improvements for passengers, by reducing obstacles and facilitating access to public transport with a more direct and satisfactory experience.
This project will boost Indra’s standing at the forefront of transport technology, as it has successful examples of bank card payment systems in other cities such as Riyadh, Lisbon, Málaga, and Granada. As for Nuek, it will strengthen its experience of payment infrastructures applied to high-demand environments with high numbers of travelers.