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Apple's NFC Ambitions Extend Beyond Apple Pay to Building Security, Transit Ticketing

Apple Pay already works for pay-as-you-go on the CTA here in Chicago. They added NFC readers to all the 'L' turnstiles and buses for their new "Ventra" payment system earlier this year. I tried it last week and it's pretty cool.

The downside is that you can't use passes with it yet, which sounds like the problem Apple is working with the vendors (Cubic, in Chicago's case) to solve. Right now you would need the device account number. As far as I know Apple keeps this tightly locked down, and even if they did Ventra doesn't have a way of adding regular (i.e. non-Ventra) cards to your account yet for adding passes online. You might be able to load passes on it at a vending machine, but that's not very convenient.

One upside, though, is visitors can use their iPhones to use public transit and avoid Ventra's ridiculous $5 new card fee for a card they'll likely only use for a few days.
 
SanJacinto said:
Yes! Sorry. Apple is always right, never makes mistakes. I am such a stupid customer I can't believe I have an own opinion.
And now, because of your message I finally realise that I am really using old technology. My poor iPhone 5S, already decades old and dismissed.
Click to expand...

It's not old, but you are not considering the fact that work on the 5S probably started much earlier than before Apple Pay was a mature project. Most likely even before Apple Pay's CDR.
If they had included an NFC chip in 2013 you would've complained about the increased price of the phone for a chip you weren't even using.
Should 5's owner complain about TouchID?
 
I hope they're working with Transport for London on this as London already has full contactless acceptance- you can use a regular NFC credit card directly on the ticket gates. No need to pre-purchase a ticket or top up. He system will even keep track of your spending and make sure it's capped so you'd never pay more than a weekly ticket.

For those who'd rather pre-pay or don't have an NFC card they have an Oyster card that is able to be topped up with cash or card both automatically and manually. The Oyster card can be anonymous if you want it to be (particularly if you top up with cash) as registration is optional.

For regular travelers you can have a monthly or annual travelcard added to Ouster which will give you unlimited travel on tube, bus, tram and rail.

Now if Apple could take the contactless part of the system. Integrate into Apple Pay and encourage the rest of the world to adopt it (remember it's not Apple proprietary) they could do quite well.
 
roadbloc said:
Yawn. This is nothing new. Apple should have been doing this NFC stuff at least three to four years ago, about the same time when the rest of the industry was doing it.

Its a shame too because I really hoped Apple would position themselves at the forefront of NFC technology. Right now, they're still at the back. And has locked it down much more than everyone else for no real reason.
Click to expand...

Thanks so much for being the one to ruin the party with the usual "Apple should've did this and Apple should've done that". :rolleyes:
 
SanJacinto said:
Yes! Sorry. Apple is always right, never makes mistakes. I am such a stupid customer I can't believe I have an own opinion.
And now, because of your message I finally realise that I am really using old technology. My poor iPhone 5S, already decades old and dismissed.
Click to expand...

I think the short and sweet of what he was getting at is. Apple develops over time, years in fact for a product. It's very possible, they wanted NFC sooner. But, they didn't have everything they wanted to do the product they way they wanted to. So, you still have to ship a new device yearly. They did it, when they had everything setup they way they wanted to. Not before. Just like Samsung didn't have NFC at the same time they had figure print sensors. They had NFC first, finger print later. Apple wanted both, AND a system in place to actually use it all (ApplePay). Get people to trust and keep using the touchID first, then once they all love it. Get them to use it for something else that is very cumbersome (making payments via credit card). Show them how well it "just works", and they will sign up for it. Which many did, and as we have seen, complain to Amazon-Chase, CVS, and Rite Aid when it doesn't.
 
SurfaceAndIPad said:
Maybe they should worry about getting apple pay to be accepted at local drugstores first
Click to expand...

Put all plans on hold while waiting for a few stores to decide what they want to do?
Fortunately those making the decisions do not think this way.

----------
bmauter said:
I wonder if the building security will not only work for offices, but for homes? What if the next big thing for HomeKit is door locks with NFC?
Click to expand...

Yes please...

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SanJacinto said:
I think they had to work on all that stuff, Apple Pay, transit ticketing, etc. for a long time not just one year, right?
Or did Apple decided in January 2014 that NFC could be useful for the above mentioned ideas?!

Therefore my question: Why wasn't NFC included in the iPhone 5s?
They knew that NFC will be needed in a future iPhone (and "future" here is defined as one year). So, why not including it??
Click to expand...

I don't think you can say that just because Apple was working on some tech for more than a year that they should have included some chip that might be needed for it in a prior model phone. Apple (and Samsung and any other device maker) are always working on prototypes for future devices. Many of these devices and these techs do not ever see the light of day. Who knows at what point the decision is made to green light a product.
 
bawbac said:
Awesome!
Keep them phones out even more for those "grab N' dash" phone thieves that are ever increasing, especially in transit stops.

*You know you leave finger prints all over your phone, that can easily can be copied with various methods. So now they don't need to know your security code once they have your iPhone.
Click to expand...


These phones have GPS, and you can remotely find and lock your phone.
Give the GPS to the local authorities, and let them go knock on the guys door for you. Also, even if they don't get the person. They can't get to your accounts anyway. PROVIDED, you setup the TouchID and pass code to begin with.
 
Jeremy1026 said:
That's like telling Apple they should fix the United States' health care system, just because they have the Health app. You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink.
Click to expand...

The US Government would have been smart to have hired Apple to develop their health care system, instead of the clowns that they did hire! Hell, even Samsung could have done a better job... :D
 
This is what the Android feature fans don't get about the Apple way. Do things slowly and one or two at a time, but do them right. Sure Google Wallet has been out for years, but it doesn't matter when it was rushed to market and nobody uses it. Apple laid the groundwork for Apple Pay with Touch id and after getting the kinks out / building user confidence, have knocked it out of the park with Apple Pay.
 
bubbleboil said:
Wouldn't the queue to enter be jammed when people use the slower apple pay than metro card or ezlink / octopus card?

In my country, our metro card take 1 second to process. But I reckon apple pay need 3 sec.
Click to expand...


Apple Pay requires the use of the finger print to verify what might be an expensive transaction. There is no reason that it has to work this way for a simple transit card transaction. It will probably just require a swipe of the iDevice over the reader the same as an existing card.
 
SanJacinto said:
Yes! Sorry. Apple is always right, never makes mistakes. I am such a stupid customer I can't believe I have an own opinion.
And now, because of your message I finally realise that I am really using old technology. My poor iPhone 5S, already decades old and dismissed.
Click to expand...

As the manufacturer etc. THEY decide what they do, RIGHT or WRONG in your eyes.

The only decision you can make is to buy their product or not and when a newer one comes out to upgrade or not or wait.

So, why complain full well knowing that Apple will do what they do?

IMO the iPhone 6 was going to be a no buy for me if it still only came with 64GB max.

Being on a 4S, I didn't buy a 5S, because they still only offered 64GB.

Now the 6 has 128GB as it should have and I'll wait until there is plenty of stock.
Depending on how long that is, I may even wait for a 6S. (I like the S versions better)

While it is nice to have new conveniences and features, I have the patience to wait and I don't feel entitled that Apple should cater to my every wish.

In the meantime all my Apple stuff works just fine.
 
coffeemadmanUK said:
London has recently introduced not only the use of contactless/NFC payment on all transport but it also can cap the amount spent so that you never go over the cost of a travel card:

Ie. Say a weekly travel card is £35.00. If you travel £30 worth on Monday, then £5 on Tuesday you will get free travel for the rest of the week.

Of course with Apple Pay this will need to be altered to occur (presumably so that the caps can happen they need to know who you are) but it's something that I can see Apple working with given the huge public transport network here.
Click to expand...
That is not how it works in London. There is a daily Cap. You are charged for each journey you make in a day until you reach the cap and then you are not charged for the rest of the day.

https://www.tfl.gov.uk/fares-and-payments/oyster/using-oyster/price-capping
 
SanJacinto said:
Yes! Sorry. Apple is always right, never makes mistakes. I am such a stupid customer I can't believe I have an own opinion.
Click to expand...

He in no way at all claimed Apple never makes mistakes. He merely said that you were ripping Apple for purposely leaving a tech out of a product that you bought, without even knowing their reasoning or whether it was even possible. How does this statement equate in an way at all to saying Apple never makes mistakes?
 
gavroche said:
He in no way at all claimed Apple never makes mistakes. He merely said that you were ripping Apple for purposely leaving a tech out of a product that you bought, without even knowing their reasoning or whether it was even possible. How does this statement equate in an way at all to saying Apple never makes mistakes?
Click to expand...

It was just my way in responding to a post full of impolite sentences.
When you read my post you will see that I combined nice words of admiration for Apple with my criticism and all I get are sentences like "you have ZERO knowledge" or "THEY decide... what's RIGHT or WRONG".
Great.
 
djphat2000 said:
These phones have GPS, and you can remotely find and lock your phone.
Give the GPS to the local authorities, and let them go knock on the guys door for you. Also, even if they don't get the person. They can't get to your accounts anyway. PROVIDED, you setup the TouchID and pass code to begin with.
Click to expand...

You ASSumption is that EVERYONE turns on FindMyPhone but most people do not because guess what, they don't want to be TRACKED !!!
 
bawbac said:
You ASSumption is that EVERYONE turns on FindMyPhone but most people do not because guess what, they don't want to be TRACKED !!!
Click to expand...

FindMyPhone only helps YOU locate your phone. The authorities can track your phone regardless, and have been able to since long before the iPhone even came out. (It's been a mandatory feature since the late 90s)
 
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