AF Payments partners with FamilyMart on 'beep' cards

AF Payments Inc., the operator of the tap-and-go transport payment system using "beep" cards, has partnered with convenience store chain FamilyMart as part of efforts to ease the long queues at the MRT and LRT stations.

In an advisory on Friday, AF Payments noted the partnership will formally launch next week.

"We hope commuters will take the opportunity to load their beep cards at convenience stores to lessen the queues at the stations," AF Payments President and CEO Peter Maher, told GMA News Online.

The company plans to seal similar partnership deals with convenience store chains 7-Eleven and MINISTOP.

"We have plans to partner with all the three big convenience stores. FamilyMart is ready first," he said.

"We are already working on implementation. We hope to have all three up and running in 2017," Maher added.

Long queues are among the woes faced by commuters riding the Light Rail Transit (LRT) Lines 1 and 2, and Metro Rail Transit (MRT) Line 3.

The Department of Transportation earlier urged commuters to reload their Beep cards in malls, pawnshops and Bayad Centers.

AF Payments, a consortium between Ayala Corp. and Metro Pacific Investments Corp., operates the unified ticketing system introduced in October 2015.

The FamilyMart brand is owned and operated in the Philippines by SIAL CVS Retailers Inc., a joint venture between specialty store retailer SSI Group Inc. and Ayala Land Inc. Ayala Land is a subsidiary of Ayala Corp. — Ted Cordero/VS, GMA News