Dubai’s Nol cards can now be used for payment at 1,000 retail units

Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has announced that Nol cards can now be used to make payments at more than 1,000 selected retail outlets across in the emirate.

Nol cards are used to pay for public transport systems such as the Metro, Tram, buses and water taxis. It can also be used to pay for parking at public metres.

The card can now be used at retail units through a local payment platform operated by Mercury Payments Services – which is part of Network International, the RTA said in a statement.

“Users of Nol card in Dubai are now able to make quick and easy payments for purchases using their existing cards at POS terminals located at leading retailers across Dubai where the Nol cardholders simply tap the card on the terminal similar to how they access the transit system,” said Abdulla Al Madani, CEO of RTA’s Corporate Technology Support Services Sector.

“The network of retailers accepting Nol cards is projected to exceed 5,000 by the end of this year,” he added.

The option of making payment via Nol cards was first made available at Zoom convenience stores at several metro and petrol stations in April this year. The new retail outlets where the system will be implemented was not revealed.

The initiative is part of the Dubai’s Smart City initiative, which aims to make the emirate one of the world’s smartest cities.

“The roll-out of this solution will further Dubai’s ambition to be the world’s smartest city within three years by harnessing the latest technologies and most advanced methods for realising this objective,” said Al Madani.

The RTA has recently sought to enhance the capabilities and use cases of the Nol cards, and last year also launched an initiative to allow users to top-up using their smartphone.

Read: Dubai’s RTA to introduce smartphone top-up for metro cards