Cubic Transportation Systems have introduced Nextaccount, an open payment platform for automated fare collection (AFC) systems.

Nextaccount provides near field communications (NFC), a contactless smart card interface and transit fare processing engine, allowing travellers to use an account to pay for travel or use an open payment fare media.

In the account-based payment option, the travel amount remains in a transit account in Nextaccount, which can be obtained through a digital signature read from a transit card by the fare payment system.

The platform also allows consumers to an open payment option, such as using contactless bank-issued credit, debit and prepaid contactless smart cards, as well as transit-issued smart cards as their ticket or to pay for trips.

Cubic’s senior vice president of Strategy and Business Development Matt Cole said: "The transit industry is on the verge of a transformation, and Nextaccount creates the ability for transit agencies to continue to reduce their cost of fare collection while improving the traveller and customer experience."

The system will also fit mobile phones with NFC for mobile payment and ticketing solutions, allowing travellers to pay transit fares directly at the point of travel.

Nextaccount uses payment from any other smart card-based ‘secure token’, such as transit-issued contactless smart cards or employer and student ID cards, which conform to the ISO 14443 contactless standard.