JCB Hanoi Metro fare payments are due to start in early 2027, after JCB International and Hanoi Metro signed a memorandum of understanding on October 29 to add JCB’s contactless transit service to the city’s urban railway. JCB cardholders will be able to tap a contactless card or a compatible device at fare gates without buying a separate ticket.
The first phase covers the two lines now in service: Line 2A from Cat Linh to Ha Dong, and the elevated section of Line 3.1 from Nhon to Hanoi Station, according to the Vietnamese government news portal. The launch depends on the two companies completing the technical work. JCB, Japan’s only international card brand, says it has more than 181 million cardmembers, mostly in Asia, and about 72 million merchants in its acceptance network. Its release names travellers from Japan, South Korea and Taiwan as the main users it expects.
JCB will be the second card scheme at the gates. Visa said on March 23 that its cardholders could already tap a card, phone or wearable on both lines, with VietinBank as the acquiring bank, and Hanoi Metro also lets riders enter with biometric national ID cards under the government’s Plan 428. JCB already runs contactless fares on Taipei Metro.
Why it matters: Tap-to-ride turns a metro gate into a payment terminal for foreign visitors, and the card scheme that gets there first earns fees on fares that tourists would otherwise pay in cash. Visa got there first in Hanoi. For JCB, the case rests on Japanese, Korean and Taiwanese visitors, whose cards it issues. The MoU gives no fee terms or acquiring bank, and the date is tied to technical readiness, so early 2027 is a target.
Source: JCB press release, October 29, 2026; Vietnam Investment Review, October 30, 2026; Chinhphu.vn, October 29, 2026; Visa press release, March 23, 2026; ASEAN Coverage
Image: Louis Anderson, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
