Apple Pay's Express Transit Feature Now Supported in 275 Chinese Cities

[ChrisA]

Wow, there are 275 cities in China that have metro systems. Here in the US there must be about 6 cities with metro rail systems. We are FAR behind the rest of the developed world.


But why bother with these gates? A better system would use RFID and near-field so cheaters would be automatically detected and there would be a transit cop waiting for them when they get off the train. The toll lanes already work this way in California. You never stop to pay, they just deduct the toll from you account automatically but if you have no account setup they send you a bill in the mail. The first bill is just the toll with no added fee and a letter explaining how to set up automated payment.

Ideally, we'd use this even for groceries. Just take what you want and walk out of the store.

 

[name99]

That goes to show Apple's relationship with China is very strong amid the local groomed Chinese phone makers.

That's completely not the point!
The point is that China operates transit as a single standardized system across the entire country. That's why Apple and China only have to share one API and the entire country gets Transit Directions, and now gets Transit RFID payment.

The US has this crazy Balkanized system where every city's setup is different. Different train carriages. Different payment hardware. Different control software. Not only does it cost an insane fortune compared to China (while delivering zero additional benefit) it also means that every damn interaction between a tech company and a transit system has to be negotiated and then the API's established city by city by city.
Hell in half the cities even the bus and train systems don't interoperate with each other! yay freedom!!!
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And yet in the San Francisco Bay Area, the supposed technology mecca of the world, no Apple Pay in sight for public transportation.

What do you want Apple to do about that? They can't force local government into behaving sensibly!
The US is hostage to US culture, and US culture (including political culture) is very sensible about somethings and absolutely insane about others.

 

[R3k]

Tried it on a visit to London recently. Awesome, piece of cake.

 

[konqerror]

Wow, there are 275 cities in China that have metro systems. Here in the US there must be about 6 cities with metro rail systems. We are FAR behind the rest of the developed world.

No, the 275 count includes non-metro transit, specifically cities with buses.

The point is that China operates transit as a single standardized system across the entire country. That's why Apple and China only have to share one API and the entire country gets Transit Directions, and now gets Transit RFID payment.

That's not correct either. T-union is not supported on a number of major transit methods, e.g Shanghai metro, Chongqing metro and some of their bus lines.

The US has this crazy Balkanized system where every city's setup is different.

The US, along with most of the Western world is going open-loop contactless, since the vast majority of people have and regularly use debit and credit cards. This is more advanced because it's universal, and avoids the use of a second card/account.

China's payment landscape is far more fragmented (China UnionPay, Cash, QR-based AliPay, WeChat Pay) and there's a major reliance on cash outside of major cities. This is why a specific transit-only standard is needed.

 

[legatoboy]

still no news for support in Hong Kong

Hong Kong is so behind on this. octopus Card company is flexing its monopoly power to the fullest extent. They work with Samsung in exclusive deals so Samsung users can use their phone to pay.

 

[Austin Chow]

still no news for support in Hong Kong

Really can't wait to use Octopus for Apple Pay Transit in Hong Kong! Its seriously taking them way too long to implement. This feature was rumored for so long and was already leaked before iOS 13 was released last year, yet we still do not have it.
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Hong Kong is so behind on this. octopus Card company is flexing its monopoly power to the fullest extent. They work with Samsung in exclusive deals so Samsung users can use their phone to pay.

Exactly. Totally unacceptable. At one point, I considered switching to Samsung just for this feature. (of course its impossible to climb over the high walls of the apple ecosystem garden, especially iCloud)
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At least we know they are testing it. ( It has more to do with delays on stupid Map Transit )

Apple Arcade is also missing as well. So Something strange is happening.

They are basically neglecting the HK market. Unacceptable to take so long

 

[darkmaxdevil]

And in Tokyo, we have been using Suica since iPhone 7.

 

[nicho]

They are basically neglecting the HK market. Unacceptable to take so long

Hong Kong has delusions of grandeur because of its status as a place to buy Apple products for mainlanders when they weren't so readily available on the mainland... as a market nowadays, it isn't large at all. The focus is rightly on bigger markets.

 

[Austin Chow]

Hong Kong has delusions of grandeur because of its status as a place to buy Apple products for mainlanders when they weren't so readily available on the mainland... as a market nowadays, it isn't large at all. The focus is rightly on bigger markets.

Bruh Hong Kong is jewel of the East, so it certainly deserves Apple's focus on the market. And mainlanders can buy Apple products on the mainland, they are not welcomed in HK.

 

[nicho]

Bruh Hong Kong is jewel of the East, so it certainly deserves Apple's focus on the market. And mainlanders can buy Apple products on the mainland, they are not welcomed in HK.

The turn of phrase is "cutting your nose off to spite your face".

 

[gnasher729]

I'm looking forward to being able to use this as I take the subway a lot

I'm looking forward to being able to use it in London once I'm not stuck at home anymore.
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They've had this in London pretty much since Apple Pay came about. And Google Pay for that matter.

No, we haven't. We had Oyster cards (special cards for underground), contactless cards (your normal debit card registered with TfL) and ApplePay (same as contectless card, but needing TouchId or FaceId). Express Transit doesn't need TouchId or FaceId anymore. That's brand new and was supposed to start being installed a few weeks ago, just about when I started working from home permanently.

 

[chaicka]

Apple Pay works throughout the transit in Singapore, but just not enable for the 'Express Transit' mode.
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Bruh Hong Kong is jewel of the East, so it certainly deserves Apple's focus on the market. And mainlanders can buy Apple products on the mainland, they are not welcomed in HK.

Perhaps in the past... If the various signs of HK fast losing its foothold isn't obvious, I dunno what else is. Signs of big brands leaving HK, newer brands going direct to China and bypass HK, and months of protests+riots+bombing driving foreigners to rethink or left amidst COVID-19, etc.....

Shall see if HK is still relevant after the global COVID-19 is more or less over and as we march straight into a global recession.
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At least we know they are testing it. ( It has more to do with delays on stupid Map Transit )

Apple Arcade is also missing as well. So Something strange is happening.

Hmmm...interesting. Is Apple Arcade available in China?
It will not surprise me that progressively, HK only will be getting the same set of features as China.

 

[28monkeys]

That's completely not the point!
The point is that China operates transit as a single standardized system across the entire country. That's why Apple and China only have to share one API and the entire country gets Transit Directions, and now gets Transit RFID payment.

I only know that at this moment, we use Wechat to commute on the train, bus and taxi. To accept Apple API into the existing system, Apple has to have a good connection with the Government and be readied to share the users' information in order for the government to track users.

 

[J InTech82]

What do you want Apple to do about that? They can't force local government into behaving sensibly!
The US is hostage to US culture, and US culture (including political culture) is very sensible about somethings and absolutely insane about others.

I wasn't asking Apple to do anything about it, more a sad reflection of Clipper not taking advantage of emerging technologies.

 

[nicho]

I finally got around to taking the metro and trying it out. Plus points for Express Transit and not having to unlock my phone and open an app to generate a QR code. Negatives? Feels slow enough to register that I could stand at the barrier and do the whole unlock my phone, open wechat, open QR code mini app, scan qr code, walk in in about the same time.

Slight exaggeration, but it is noticeably slower than a (pre-authorised) payment with UnionPay contactless cards which were my preferred method of payment before the coronavirus situation. If I had a phone with Touch ID it probably still would be.