Nol 
Card 
wins top 
honours

The Road and Transport Authority’s (RTA) Nol Card has been recognised as the Best Prepaid Card in the Middle East during a recent award ceremony.

The Nol Card won the Middle East Smart Card Awards, the region’s only competition for banks, payment systems and smart cards.

Mattar Al Tayer, Chairman of the Board and Executive Director of the RTA, expressed his delight to see the Nol Card recognised. He said: “Various types of RTA Nol Cards are considered the best and easiest means of paying fares of mass transit systems covering the Dubai Metro, public buses and the Water Bus as well as paid parking. The total number of Nol cards produced since the operation of the Dubai Metro started in September 2009 has almost touched five million. Nol Cards are sold and topped up through more than 1,000 outlets, and the number of daily transactions of Nol cards currently tops 1.5 million transactions, which includes passengers’ entry and exit from metro and bus stations, payment of parking fees, and recharging of cards. This figure is indicative of the rising number of users of mass transit modes, particularly the Dubai Metro and public buses.

“Nol Card is both safe and difficult to counterfeit as it is aligned with approved international standards. The design of the card, which is made by several manufacturers, has been tailored to meet future requirements of the electronic payment systems and account for the possibility of adding a variety of uses that go beyond using mass transit systems. The RTA has launched a special fare for students, seniors and special needs people, introduced the monthly subscription service and also staged promotional offers throughout the year,” stated Al Tayer.

The unified card has been branded as Nol, which is an authentic Arabic word that means fare.

There are four types of Nol Cards: Gold, Silver and Blue Nol cards in addition to the Red Nol Ticket.