The smartphone app you can use on transport systems round the globe

Imagine travelling anywhere in the world and being able to use your smartphone to pay for the train or bus just as easily as you would your Octopus card at home.

It might seem like a dream, but that is exactly what technology company Xerox is trying to introduce - and for passengers, it would simply involve downloading an app.

Now the American technology giant - still best known for its photocopiers - is hoping to persuade transport operators around the world to harness so-called near-field communication technology.

Operators would have to subscribe to the service and install mouse-sized tags at entrances.

"In public transport, we started with coins in the fare box. Then we moved to magnetic tickets. Then we moved to contactless cards. I really believe this is the next step," said Eric Jean, senior vice-president of Xerox's international transportation and government division.

Jean believes the service will make life easier for travellers, who would no longer have to stand in line to buy tickets. But he admitted it might not prove as popular with operators, as the fares would be processed by the company and distributed to the operators later.

"They [transport operators] are very unwilling today to give away the only way they have to get money," Jean said