Clear2Pay announced that it has won the Contactless Monkey Award in the category “Trailblazing and Innovation”. The “Trailblazing and Innovation” Award is given to companies who have done the most to further the boundaries of contactless technology either through technology introduction or pilot programs.

The award was granted for the South Africa EMV Contactless Payment and Electronic Fare Collection Program, a joint project with South African consultancy firms Keith Smith Consulting and Techso Smart Solutions. The project, the first EMV-based eTicketing transport program on the African continent, aims to modernise South-Africa’s public transport, transforming it into an integrated system by implementing a contactless Automatic Fare Collection based on EMV payment standards. The contactless card initiative will enable commuters both convenient ticket purchasing as well as low value retail payments. 

The fourth edition of the award, which is organized yearly by Contactless Intelligence, an innovative marketing platform for contactless technologies, saw a record number of entries, underlining the growing significance of contactless payment applications.

Steve Atkins, CEO of Krowne Communications, the company behind Contactless Intelligence, stated, “Whereas other awards ceremonies focus on behind-the-scenes technological innovations, we honour those firms that are really making a difference and cross the Rubicon in getting contactless devices into the hands of users and encouraging consumers to use them at both major international and small retailers throughout the world.”

Marie Costers, Head of the Test Tools Competence Centre at Clear2Pay added, ”We are delighted to be part of this prestigeous project in South-Africa, a country where Clear2Pay is active at present implementing several payment solutions. The partnership with Keith Smith Consulting and Techso Smart Solutions brought us the local sector knowledge and public transport expertise we needed to complete our certification laboratory in Cape Town where banks and third parties can locally certify their products to ensure optimal interoperability between cards and devices. This type of partnership whereby we offer our customers a total and rich solution, rather than just technology, is part of our DNA and we are very proud to have jointly won this award.”