The world at our fingertips: the National Mobile Payment ecosystem now offers the services of 132 providers via mobile apps to more than 6 million customers
The National Mobile Payment System (NMPS) is a unique and innovative operating model, not only in the region but also in global terms, which has been developed to provide a unified national mobile payment solution.
The system, operated by National Mobile Payment Plc, was launched on 1 July 2014 with the aim of ensuring the payment of public parking, motorway tolls and usage-based tolls by mobile phone in Hungary. Since then, the range of services has continued to expand: firstly, the payment of parking fees for so-called indoor parking (i.e. parking in shopping centres or separated by barriers), and then the payment of tickets and passes for several cultural facilities by mobile phone.
In June 2019, another major milestone was the launch of the mobile transport ticket, a form of public transport tickets and passes that can be purchased through a mobile app. As a first step, mobile tickets were available for the 100E line to Budapest Airport, and then the range of transport operators, cities and resellers was continuously expanded: by May 2020, the service reached nationwide coverage. The National Mobile Payment Plc. and its resellers' apps allow you to buy a ticket anywhere, anytime, even at the stop directly before the departure of the vehicle, with no convenience fee or surcharge, in a short time.
The continuous workshop work and joint thinking with service providers and users has not stopped since then, with several pilot projects launched, for example, to develop intelligent parking and access solutions, and the prototype of the Green Wallet, which supports domestic sustainability, has been completed, allowing, for example, the exchange of consumers' PET bottles for tickets available in the aforementioned mobile ticketing service.
The system currently connects 42 retailers and 132 service providers in different service sectors, a nationwide and extensive ecosystem providing significant convenience to more than 6 million customers in many areas of everyday life. The digital value chain solution is therefore a model for Europe and the world: it provides a simple, cashless and secure payment alternative for the widest range of users, contributes to Hungary's digitalisation efforts, educates the population and has a significant digital economy development impact.