JCB International and Hanoi Metro signed a memorandum of understanding on October 29, 2026 to introduce JCB transit on Hanoi’s urban railway network, letting JCB cardholders pay their fare by tapping a contactless card or a compatible device at the metro gates. The service is targeted for launch in early 2027, according to JCB’s announcement.
The agreement is between JCB International Co., Ltd., the overseas arm of Japan’s JCB Co., Ltd., and Hanoi Metro One Member Limited Liability Company, which runs the city’s urban rail. It is a memorandum, not a live service: the two sides say they will now “complete the necessary preparations.”
Who it is for
JCB pitches the service mainly at international visitors. The release names travelers from Japan, Korea and Taiwan, who could ride with the card they already carry instead of buying a separate ticket or paying in cash. Takumi Takahashi, executive vice president of JCB International, said the company hopes the service will “contribute to the development of a modern and cashless public transportation ecosystem in Vietnam.”
For a rider, the change is at the gate. In an open-loop system the payment card itself works as the ticket, so there is no transit card to buy or top up. Behind the tap, the fare still travels the usual card route through an acquirer and the card network to the issuing bank, the chain we follow in What Happens After You Tap Your Card?.
What the announcement does not say
The release does not name the lines or stations that will accept JCB at launch, the bank or processor that will handle the transactions, how fares will be calculated for card taps, or whether daily or monthly fare caps will apply. It also gives no date more precise than early 2027. Riders and merchants should wait for the operator’s own instructions before relying on the service.
Part of a wider transit push
Hanoi follows several metro systems where JCB already handles contactless fares. On July 1, 2026 JCB launched acceptance on the Taipei Metro and said its contactless cards also work on the Kaohsiung, Taoyuan and Taichung metros in Taiwan. In June 2025 it opened subway payments in Shanghai and Beijing, covering all subway lines in both cities.
Within Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh City’s Metro Line 1 opened in December 2024 with open-loop ticketing built by the line’s operator, Mastercard and Sacombank, which says riders can tap cards from networks including JCB. The Hanoi agreement is a direct deal between JCB and the metro operator.
JCB says it has more than 181 million cardmembers, mostly in Asia, and an acceptance network of about 72 million merchants.
