"The Andante application will now have a new functionality, TOP UP, which will allow you to read and load Andante transport cards, whether they are plastic, normally used in passes or paper, those that come out of vending machines, or which are sold at points of sale for more occasional trips", explained the TIP's managing director, Manuel Paulo Teixeira.

At issue is the loading of Andante physical cards using NFC technology from smartphones with Android or iOS operating systems, being, in practice, a copy of a vending machine on each person's cell phone, available at any time.

"This application will allow you to read it, know at all times what the card has loaded, and also allow you to top up. In the case of the pass, top up a monthly pass, and in the case of occasional trips upload the entire range of trips that exist in the Andante tariff", including combined passes, explained the person responsible for TIP, the group that manages the system.

To top up, the user simply has to turn on the NFC functionality and touch their cell phone to the Andante to read it, choose their option, make the payment, and travel.