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Apple Pay Express Mode Now Available in New South Wales

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The government of New South Wales in Australia today announced that the Opal ticketing system now supports Express Mode for Apple Pay payments, allowing the fare card to be added to the Wallet app on a compatible iPhone or Apple Watch for tap-and-go payments across the public transport network.

opal-express-transit.jpg

Express Transit mode allows users to pay for rides without having to wake or unlock their iPhone or Apple Watch, or open the Opal app. The mode also bypasses the need to authenticate with Face ID, Touch ID, or a passcode. Users simply need to hold their iPhone or Apple Watch near the contactless payment reader until a checkmark appears on the display.

Transport for NSW undertook a staggered rollout of Express Mode across the 25,000 card readers on the Opal network, starting with ferries and light rail, then train stations, and then the thousands of Opal readers on buses, which finished this week.
"Commuters in the Hunter, Illawarra, Blue Mountains and everywhere in between will benefit from being the first public transport users in Australia to benefit from the mass roll out of this initiative," said NSW transport minister Jo Haylen. "It will make life so much easier for the almost two million transport passengers who use contactless payments with a digital wallet in NSW."
Click to expand...
How to Set Up Express Transit on iPhone

  1. Launch the Settings app on your iPhone.
  2. Tap Wallet & Apple Pay.
  3. Tap Express Transit Card.
  4. Tap one of your cards in the list to use it with Express Transit. A tick will appear next to the card you select. The default option is None.
  5. Authenticate your device using Touch ID or Face ID.
how-to-set-up-express-transit-iphone.jpg

If your bank card doesn't support Express Transit, you'll get an error message telling you that the card is incompatible. If no error message appears, you're good to tap-and-go.

How to Set Up Express Transit on Apple Watch

  1. Launch the Watch app on your iPhone.
  2. Tap Wallet & Apple Pay.
  3. Tap Express Transit Card.
  4. Tap one of your cards in the list to use it with Express Transit. A tick will appear next to the card you select. The default option is None.
  5. Authenticate by entering your passcode on your Apple Watch.
how-to-set-up-express-transit-apple-watch.jpg

If your bank card doesn't support Express Transit, you'll get an error message telling you that the card is incompatible. If no message appears, you're all set.

Article Link: Apple Pay Express Mode Now Available in New South Wales
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2023/07/14/apple-pay-express-transit-new-south-wales/
I don’t think you can add the actual Opal card to your wallet but rather be able to use Express Transit with your credit cards
 
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It's very smart of Apple to do this. They won't make any money from this kind of deal but it eventually locks people into their iPhones further so they can't switch away easily. Use your iPhone as a transit payment method, credit card, driver's license, car key, house key, etc. Suddenly, one day, you depend on your iPhone for pretty much everything and it's impossible to switch.

Luckily, I'm an AAPL shareholder so lock away.
 
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If this works as a standard tap transaction, just minus the need to authenticate, what type of bank cards would not support the feature? Or do you mean if the bank card does not support Apple Pay?
 
Apple Pay Express Mode is incredibly slick. I use it multiple times a week on the NYC subway. My only beef is that the "ding" confirmation from the phone comes a bit slowly. I'm usually well through the turnstile by the time I hear it. Given that the turnstile itself doesn't have a very good feedback tone (and it's loud as hell in the subway, usually), it would be nice if the iPhone was a bit more responsive there.
 
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senttoschool said:
It's very smart of Apple to do this. They won't make any money from this kind of deal but it eventually locks people into their iPhones further so they can't switch away easily. Use your iPhone as a transit payment method, credit card, driver's license, car key, house key, etc. Suddenly, one day, you depend on your iPhone for pretty much everything and it's impossible to switch.

Luckily, I'm an AAPL shareholder so lock away.
Click to expand...
Nope. In NYC, the system works with NFC-enabled credit cards and Android phones with NFC -- as well as the dedicated OMNY card you can buy (with cash, even, for users who don't have access to banks). I'd imagine this Australian system works much the same way, and even just in the article photo you can see the credit card logos above the reader.

So, no, nobody is "locked" into using an Apple device, fortunately. As a transit user and a taxpayer, I'd be rightly pissed if any one company had a monopoly on contactless fares, regardeless of what it means for your stock holdings.
 
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aliea13 said:
I don’t think you can add the actual Opal card to your wallet but rather be able to use Express Transit with your credit cards
Click to expand...
This is also what I am speculating. Express mode is specifically designed for infrequent public transit users where they just use credit/debit card to pay the fare rather than carrying another card they rarely use.
Maybe I should not feel too excited if that‘s just an enhanced express mode.
 
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Express Mode is what makes the Suica transit card on the iPhone/Apple watch in Japan so great. Pretty much every store I shop at accepts Suica as a payment method. I can't remember the last time I had to authenticate my watch to make a purchase of any kind.
 
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japanime said:
Express Mode is what makes the Suica transit card on the iPhone/Apple watch in Japan so great. Pretty much every store I shop at accepts Suica as a payment method. I can't remember the last time I had to authenticate my watch to make a purchase of any kind.
Click to expand...
Not for nothing, but when I first moved to NYC the system still used physical tokens, and you could use them as a kind of informal currency. I bought an umbrella off a street vendor with one once, and I think also a hot dog.
2003_44_2_SubwayToken_verso.png
 
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Express mode is really great. I do notice in London that so many people don't use it. They instead double click and registering their face ID before going through the barriers. There definitely needs to be some better education around this to get more people using it.
 
ignatius345 said:
Apple Pay Express Mode is incredibly slick. I use it multiple times a week on the NYC subway. My only beef is that the "ding" confirmation from the phone comes a bit slowly. I'm usually well through the turnstile by the time I hear it. Given that the turnstile itself doesn't have a very good feedback tone (and it's loud as hell in the subway, usually), it would be nice if the iPhone was a bit more responsive there.
Click to expand...
Um, the turnstile terminal's color changes and you can hear the click of it unlocking, it should really be enough for you to walk through)
 
theadz01 said:
Express mode is really great. I do notice in London that so many people don't use it. They instead double click and registering their face ID before going through the barriers. There definitely needs to be some better education around this to get more people using it.
Click to expand...
Because their grandmother told them that their money will be stolen if they turn this on :)
 
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aliea13 said:
I don’t think you can add the actual Opal card to your wallet but rather be able to use Express Transit with your credit cards
Click to expand...

Correct. A digital Opal Card is coming later in the year...

"A digital Opal Card rollout is also expected to kick off by the end of this year as NSW moves through $567.9 million worth of transport upgrades.

This will introduce a digital version of the physical Opal transit card and allow people to add a virtual Opal card to digital wallets on their devices"
 
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Naildown said:
Haha no. The other commenter is confused. NSW or "New South Wales". Never heard it called anything else (other than derogatory profanity 😂).
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Thanks for clarifying.

I know people in the US don’t refer to “New Mexico” as “Mexico” because they border each other and that would be confusing.

But since NSW and Wales are about as far away from each other as they can be and still be on the same planet, I wasn’t sure what the convention was in Australia.
 
alexandr said:
Um, the turnstile terminal's color changes and you can hear the click of it unlocking, it should really be enough for you to walk through)
Click to expand...
Yeah man I've been riding the subway for 20 years. The color is off to the side, and the click can be hard to hear if it's loud. All I'm saying is it would be nice if the iPhone's feedback was quicker.
 
ignatius345 said:
Yeah man I've been riding the subway for 20 years. The color is off to the side, and the click can be hard to hear if it's loud. All I'm saying is it would be nice if the iPhone's feedback was quicker.
Click to expand...
Not sure what 20 years gets you when we're talking about Apple Pay :))))
To be fair, while it is off to the side — it's exactly where you tap your device ;)
But I hear ya.
 
alexandr said:
Not sure what 20 years gets you when we're talking about Apple Pay :))))
To be fair, while it is off to the side — it's exactly where you tap your device ;)
But I hear ya.
Click to expand...
LOL, generally try to keep my POV forward to see if I need to negotiate my use of the turnstile with someone who's exiting.
 
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