Mashhad takes one step forward to a smarter city by issuing 4 million of the new “Man Card” NFC cards which acts as an ID card and a micro payment wallet.
Mashhad has always been the test bed for piloting mass FinTech and smart city projects in Iran. The first ever transportation NFC cards was also piloted in Mashhad years back before it deputed in the capital city of Tehran.
According to Tasnim news, 4 million “Man Cards” have been distributed, which 2 million of these cards are for residents and the rest are for Mashhad’s tourists. Mashhad is the first tourism destination in the country, with millions of tourists visiting the city annually. Residents and tourists have used these cards for the city’s metro and public transportation. Meaning of the Man Card translates into “My Card” in Farsi.
As a pilot project, over 60 locations like bakeries, printing places, and also some governmental & municipality service centers are accepting these residency cards for payment.
There is a plan to issue these NFC cards for each city in Iran in order to simplify micro payments and remove cash for citizens. This will simplify day to day payments and will lower the use of cash overtime which will have a great impact over time. The card will also enable citizens to use almost every feature provided by the city’s municipality including bike renting.
The feedbacks have been positive so far, and according to the manager of this project these NFC residency cards are also in the process of launch in different cities throughout the country. Cities which are in the processes of issues and launching this projects are Kish Island, Ahvaz, Ghazvin, Esfahan and Kerman.
One of the most innovative features of these cards is the ability to top up and charge the card with phones that have NFC chips. For the time being, only Android phone owners are able to charge their Man Cards. The card can also be charged at metro stations, bakeries and many other locations throughout the city.
Man Card’s project manager also added that these features will also be implemented into Student cards, organizational cards and loyalty cards.
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