Electronic payment continues to gain ground in the Greater Metropolitan Area (GAM), as more and more companies decide to join this modern technology, which allows about 1.4 million users to make their payments easily, quickly and securely.
Today, five important companies that provide public transportation services in several communities of Heredia, Santo Domingo de Heredia and Tibás, with a total of 206 units, joined the National System of Electronic Payment in Public Transportation (SINPE-TP). These companies are Cooperativa Autobuseros Nacionales Asociados R.L. (COOPANA RL), TRANSVI. S.A., Microbuses Rápidos Heredianos S.A., Transportes Unidos La 400 S.A. and Autotransportes Los Lagos Heredia S.A.
The new routes and their branches will benefit more than 150 thousand inhabitants of these communities. With the incorporation of these bus companies, the country now has 25 mass passenger transportation companies operating with SINPE-TP in the GAM, for a total of 1,356 buses. In addition, all the trains of the Costa Rican Railroad Institute (INCOFER) already allow users to pay electronically.
Carlos Melegatti, Director of the Payment System Division of the Central Bank of Costa Rica, explained that Costa Rica continues to advance in the massification of electronic payment. “Nearly 30% of the total of all buses in the country already have this system, fulfilling the purpose of providing users so that they can pay their fares using their Debit and Credit cards, which are available to more than 90.7% of the population.”
Continue extending
“By 2025, the goal is to continue extending to other cantons of San José, Alajuela, Heredia, and Cartago, to reach the 3,000 buses that provide service in the GAM and where about 80% of the total trips are made”, added Melegatti. To date, SINPE-TP has already surpassed 20 million payments since it began operations in trains and buses, for a collection of more than ¢9 billion.
Launch of the new prepaid card
At the event for the extension of electronic payment on routes in Heredia and San José, the plan to launch the new prepaid card “Monedero SINPE-TP” was announced, which seeks to provide unbanked people with an alternative payment option to cash, allowing access to this service that was previously excluded because they did not have a cash, credit or debit card; in addition to enjoying the same experience as the rest of the population by being able to pay electronically in trains and buses.
Thanks to an alliance between Mastercard and Banco de Costa Rica, people who do not have a debit or credit card, or bank payment accessories such as bracelets, watches, wallets, among others, will be able to acquire the rechargeable card for payment in public transportation.
The cards will be obtained at the Banco de Costa Rica (BCR) Tucan points, near train and bus stops and stations, where people regularly go to make telephone charges and payments for public services, among others. In a first stage, it should be recharged at these same points of the BCR. In a later stage, recharging will be enabled through Sinpe Móvil.
According to the plan, distribution of the prepaid public transportation card will begin in the second quarter of 2025, in an introductory manner at the Tucan points in the community of Guarari de Heredia, to be ideally used in the buses of the company Grupo Acuza Barbeña Ltda, operator that serves that community, hoping to gradually extend the distribution of the SINPE-TP wallet to the other areas that already have the electronic payment system enabled. The purpose is to calibrate the variables required by the transportation system to guarantee its correct operation and the best experience for passengers.
It is important to remember that users can check the status of their payments, regardless of the company providing the transportation service. To do so, they can download the free SINPE-TP Passenger App, a tool that links directly with the Central Bank’s SINPE-TP platform.
