Users of New Zealand’s NFC mobile wallet Semble will be able to pay for public transport using the app through a partnership with prepaid transit card provider Snapper. The move follows Semble’s launch as a SIM-based payment solution available to nearly one million New Zealanders in March 2015.

“Thousands of customers who are already using Semble to make everyday payments can now use their phone to pay for public transport services wherever the Snapper symbol is displayed,” Semble says. “Around 20,000 people are currently using it in approximately 2,000 locations.

“Available initially as a beta release on enabled Android devices, an estimated 50,000 central Wellington Snapper users will be able to use their mobile phones for transport with Semble from today.”

Semble was created in April 2012 as TSM NZ and rebranded in October 2014. The company is jointly owned by Paymark, 2degrees, Vodafone and Spark, alongside New Zealand banks ASB and BNZ.

“This is something our customers have been asking for,” says Snapper CEO Miki Szikszai. “We want to provide our public transport users with the easiest way to pay for their trip and we think the smartphone is that way. Customers can now pay for their trip, top up and buy passes directly from their phone.”

“At launch, we promised a single app offering multiple services to customers,” adds Semble CEO Rob Ellis. “A one-stop shop including payments, transport, ticketing, offers, loyalty cards, all on your phone accessed via a single app. The launch of Snapper in Semble brings us one step closer to that goal.

“With so many more Kiwis using public transport on a day-to-day basis, it is a real win for us to extend the offering of the Semble mobile wallet to now also include public transport, just three months after launching with payments.”