Last month, when we wrote about Ontario debuting its One Fare program, we noted that PRESTO Apple Wallet support was still missing in action on the TTC.
But despite the lack of official PRESTO card support in Apple Wallet on the iPhone, it’s still possible to use the latter to tap to pay—without unlocking your device and when it doesn’t even have power.
“With Express Mode, you can use cards, passes, and keys in the Wallet app with just a tap,” explains Apple. This means you can use your Apple Wallet cards without unlocking your iPhone, or authenticating with Face ID or Touch ID or passcode.
iPhone in Canada reader iPab let us know in the comments last month it’s possible to set up Express Mode with Apple Pay and use it on the PRESTO system with your debit or credit card. So this means you can just tap your iPhone without waking or unlocking it when you board a bus or street car, but at the time, not yet in subway stations.
But that has since changed recently, notes @andrewe (via @MacRumors), who said the subway fare gates have been updated to support PRESTO cards in Apple Wallet. You can also now use Express Mode at subway fare gates, too.
Apple Wallet “Express Mode” now works across the TTC. Pay without a double click, a passcode, Face ID, Touch ID — and even without power.
(Subway fare gates required an update to support Presto cards in Apple Wallet. Express Mode is an added bonus.) pic.twitter.com/9rskO1Dnm8
— Andrew Escobar (Andres) (@andrewe) March 25, 2024
How to set up Express Mode? It’s easy. On your iPhone, just head to: Settings > Wallet & Apple Pay > Express Transit Card and choose your credit/debit card.
Express Mode also works on Apple Watch. To set this up, launch the Apple Watch app (from your iPhone). Go to the My Watch > Wallet & Apple Pay > Transit Cards > Express Transit Card and select a debit or credit card of your choice.
You can also select a different debit or credit card on Apple Watch and iPhone for Express Mode.
Now, you can tap your iPhone to pay per trip without having to load your PRESTO card. This also means you can get cash back or other benefits from your assigned credit card. According to iPab, they have been using Express Mode with Apple Pay on the TTC for the past 6 months.
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But, as with tapping a physical credit / debit card, the user will be charged full fare – so not good for monthly fare users, students, seniors or those on, say, Ontario Works.
Time for TTC to get its act together and produce the PrestoCard for Wallet, so it can be used (including adding funds) like the physical card.
I’m pretty sure Metrolinx is responsible for PRESTO, but it definitely would be nice to see the other fare categories added to the Wallet payment method.
Sadly, I don’t think that’s feasible for a normal credit/debit card payment. There would have to be a way to associate your specific credit or debit card with a fare type, which sounds like a logistical nightmare on Presto’s end (and possibly rife with data privacy issues), but would create additional confusion with Apple Pay since every device uses a different virtual card number that’s generated at the time the card is added to Apple Pay. That means you’d have to register your iPhone and your Apple Watch and re-register them again if you wiped and restored either device or upgraded to a newer model.
That’s why we need to get the Presto card into Apple Wallet.
Yes, that was my understanding as well and the solution would be to allow different PRESTO card types to be added to the Wallet, though I suppose you’d have to find away to have each card tied to a single user. I’m sure it’s not a coincidence very few transit systems have gone this route with their transit cards.
No. TTC charges the Presto fare with this method. It’s the other transit lines that charge the cash fare.
It charges the Presto fare, yes, but the other special fares aren’t available unless you use a Presto card that’s been coded for those, and as the earlier post said, it obviously won’t handle a monthly pass from your credit card.
I would love to know the reason why presto doesn’t have a virtual presto card on Apple wallet and why did it take so long to put on google wallet
prestro needs to be on the transit card list, have you sene the transit card list? theres
3 for japan (just used sucia and it is amazing)
31 for china
1 for hong kong
3 for usa
0 for canada