MANILA, Philippines - Holders of beep™ cards can now reload or use the payment system to purchase goods at FamilyMart outlets in the country after proponent AF Payments Inc. (AFPI) forged a partnership with the Japanese convenience store chain.

“We are thrilled to be part of the beep™ card network as its first ever retail partner. We constantly look for ways to offer our customers more convenience through our products and services, and I’m sure they will love this new addition to FamilyMart,” Philippine FamilyMart president and general manager Manuel Alberto said.

AFPI, a consortium of Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) and Ayala Corp., bagged the Automatic Fare Collection System deal under the public-private partnership program.

At present, the automatic fare collection system or beep™ card is being used in Metro Manila’s railways, select bus lines and the Manila-Cavite Expressway.

The beep™ card which can be purchased for P20, is reloadable up to P10,000 and valid for four years.

After the partnership with FamilyMart, AFPI president and chief executive officer Peter Maher said the consortium is looking to enable the use of the beep card in other tollways.

“NLEX (North Luzon Expressway) is under technical testing right now,” he said, noting the beep card is expected to be accepted as payment for the tollway under the MPIC group soon.

While the aim for now is to make the beep™ card an acceptable payment in tollways operated by shareholders of the AFPI first, he said there are also plans to make the system available in other toll roads as well.

“I think there is demand and interest among consumers and drivers to have one card that’s accepted everywhere, at all tollways and we would like to be the one,” he said.

He said AFPI may also add a security feature to the cards in the future to protect users in case the card gets lost.