At a news conference on Thursday in the Mediterranean city of Antalya, VakıfBank announced that it has completed the infrastructure for a new system that combines banking, city transport and shopping in a single card. The new card, which can be integrated into a watch, an NFC compatible cell phone or a keychain, will initially be available for Antalya residents only. VakıfBank's partners in the project, AntKart -- the company that provides Antalya's public transportation card system used by nearly half a million of the city's residents -- and its technology partner Verisoft, completed the technological infrastructure for the new system.
"The ease of use offered to Antalya residents in transportation will continue at a wider range," Secretary-General of the Antalya Municipality Ali Deveci said on Thursday.
The most important problem AntKart smart-card users reported was difficulty refilling smart-card funds, AntKart CEO Talip Küner said, adding that his company had contacted eight private banks to develop the technology to enable people to put money into their cards without physically visiting an AntKart refill center.
"Finally, one state bank understood us," Küner said. "I would like to express my gratitude to VakıfBank, its super team and its visionary executives for positively surprising us."
He praised VakıfBank for taking the initial idea to a higher level, making AntKart available for use when shopping or completing online bank transactions.
The main drive behind VakıfBank's innovative new project was a change in corporate policy the bank adopted three years ago to concentrate on technology investments and a new human resources policy, said Nazan Arıca, head of VakıfBank's credit cards services department.
In a demonstration, Verisoft General Manager Onur Alver bought a can of soda from a vending machine first using a watch, then an NFC cell phone. He also introduced the "smart poster," a placard that includes circles that send digital data to NFC cell phones offering information on the timing of the next bus to arrive, movies showing at the city's theaters for the week, the nearest pharmacies and refilling centers; the placard also accepts online applications for an AntKart.
NFC cell phones and watches with the integrated smart card will be available for VakıfBank customers free of charge within the next two months, Arıca announced, adding that similar projects relying on innovative technologies for consumers and commuters will be offered in other cities across Turkey in the near future.
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