MasterCard Offers Apple Pay Users Free Public Transit in London Starting Today

[MacRumors]

In an effort to increase adoption of contactless payments, major credit card issuer MasterCard has launched a limited time "Fare Free Mondays" promotion, offering free public transit to Apple Pay users in London on Mondays between November 23 and December 14, 2015.

Starting today, and on the next three Mondays, MasterCard customers using Apple Pay to touch in and out on London's public transit network will have up to £27.90 in daily fares refunded by MasterCard. The promotion is valid for travel on the Tube, buses, tram, DLR, London Overground and most National Rail services in London.

Mark Barnett, president of MasterCard UK&I:

"The move by TfL last year to accept contactless cards and devices on London Underground has been a phenomenal catalyst to the growth in contactless payments across the UK. Now that Apple Pay has arrived we want to encourage travellers on London's transport network to try it out and give them another convenient option to pay for their travel. What better way to do this, than to offer MasterCard customers using Apple Pay the chance to travel for free over the next four consecutive Mondays."

MasterCard competitor Visa today also unveiled a new Apple Pay "Ready" campaign in Europe, including two TV ads from agency Saatchi & Saatchi that highlight how fast, easy and reliable using a Visa card in Apple Pay is in everyday situations such as paying to use the Tube or in a cafe.

Apple Pay expanded to the U.K. in July and is accepted at more than 250,000 locations across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The iPhone-based mobile payments service recently gained support for Tesco Bank and TSB in the country alongside over 90 new U.S. issuers.

Article Link: MasterCard Offers Apple Pay Users Free Public Transit in London Starting Today

 

[SSD-GUY]

Great. Even more people on my already packed northern line train on monday mornings.

 

[IvanX]

Gimmick. And, since NFC is slower than Oyster, this is just going to cause unnecessary congestion.

 

[xero9]

Gimmick. And, since NFC is slower than Oyster, this is just going to cause unnecessary congestion.

MasterCard is fast at processing transactions though..

 

[rdlink]

Great. Even more people on my already packed northern line train on monday mornings.

Not sure you'll see much of an increase in ridership. How many people who wouldn't ride the train normally are going to go through the trouble of setting up their Apple Pay to take advantage of this for one day's free ride over three weeks?

Gimmick. And, since NFC is slower than Oyster, this is just going to cause unnecessary congestion.

It is a bit of a gimmick. But I think it's more about building awareness than anything else. And to that end I support it wholeheartedly. Getting people to start thinking about the benefits of contactless payment/Apple Pay and its other applications is a good thing, IMO.

It's been a few years since I rode the London transit system, so I confess that I don't know how many people use paper passes vs. cash vs. Oyster Card. But I know here in Denver, where we have NFC touchless readers on our buses and trains the biggest holdup is people who pay with ride coupons and cash. And I would love the opportunity to have my Eco Pass on my iPhone, so I don't have to fumble to pull my card out of my wallet.

 

[Merkie]

When will Apple start offering Apple Pay in other parts of the world? Why is the roll-out so slow?

 

[unplugme71]

Not sure you'll see much of an increase in ridership. How many people who wouldn't ride the train normally are going to go through the trouble of setting up their Apple Pay to take advantage of this for one day's free ride over three weeks?

Probably quite a bit. Think of places you wanted to go but didn't care to spend the $20-$30 it costed to travel there.

I can think of many places I'd go in NYC for free. Or even Boston or Chicago.

 

[teslo]

smart move - many thousands of potential new users. since i don't use apple pay (on a slow, old backup iPhone 4 for a year now), i feel - as a casual observer of the service - there needs to be higher visibility on these promotions and deals. you can't cater only to tech-savvy people who wanted to use Apple Pay before it was released.

 

[Gasu E.]

London only??? I'm going to link to this every time a Brit complains about being shut out of a MacRumors Giveaway.

 

[AtheistP3ace]

Wow that's awesome. Nothing like that in US I'm aware of.

 

[amirite]

Nothing like that in US I'm aware of.

Decent public transit? Me neither.

 

[JeffyTheQuik]

Free=Good

 

[2457282]

This is great! Hopefully our subway systems in the US will catch up. AS more vendors are finally accepting Apple Pay in the US, I am pulling out my wallet less and less. Being able to take mass transit without needing to pull out the wallet would be another awesome attack on the wallet. Still the battle will be long and hard, but I do believe that with patience and perseverance, we can win this war over the Wallets of the Planet (WOTP).

 

[Popeye206]

When will Apple start offering Apple Pay in other parts of the world? Why is the roll-out so slow?

The banks have to sign on for ApplePay. So until they sign on, Apple can't roll out.

 

[baryon]

It's been a few years since I rode the London transit system, so I confess that I don't know how many people use paper passes vs. cash vs. Oyster Card. But I know here in Denver, where we have NFC touchless readers on our buses and trains the biggest holdup is people who pay with ride coupons and cash. And I would love the opportunity to have my Eco Pass on my iPhone, so I don't have to fumble to pull my card out of my wallet.

I would say almost everyone uses Oyster or other contactless cards. The paper cards are now pretty much obsolete and cash was never an option (except on busses - where it's no longer an option I believe). The cool thing with Oyster is that you don't even have to take it out of your wallet: you just take your wallet and touch it to the reader, no need to press a button, wake your phone, or anything. Doing that 4 times a day, every day of the year, while running and being pushed from every direction, you're probably going to drop your wallet every once in a while. Not something I'd risk with an iPhone! But it is a nice option if, say, you have your phone but you forgot your Oyster card, it can save you. But not every single day maybe.

 

[bigchrisfgb]

London only??? I'm going to link to this every time a Brit complains about being shut out of a MacRumors Giveaway.

Hardly includes the whole of the UK though. This will only apply to those who live in London and who have a MasterCard. Visa is the more commonly used payment card, MasterCard is usually only for credit cards and even then the share between Visa ones is split.

 

[Bubba Satori]

Nothing is 'free'.
Somebody is paying for those rides.
Guess who.

 

[0098386]

Oh! Sounds good. Will have to give it a try if I get down to London around then.

 

[Merkie]

The banks have to sign on for ApplePay. So until they sign on, Apple can't roll out.

So apparently only US and UK banks are interested? No Japanese, Finnish or Brazilian banks interested? I highly doubt that.

 

[Planey28]

London only??? I'm going to link to this every time a Brit complains about being shut out of a MacRumors Giveaway.

Not all of Britain lives in London... in fact nowhere outside of London supports Oyster-style ticketing or contactless payments to the same level London does.

 

[Junipr]

So in other words, MasterCard now let's you board the slave train. Nice.

 

[macnewbie91]

I live in America and even I know the oyster cards are much faster for transit subway systems.

Other countries actually have a government that knows what it's doing-- NFC, oyster cards, chip & pin implementation are in every other country but ours.

 

[dmylrea]

Gimmick. And, since NFC is slower than Oyster, this is just going to cause unnecessary congestion.

Unnecessary for who? People are saving money. We recently visited London (from the US) recently, and after a few days, I was AMAZED how good the tube system is in London. I was also amazed by how rude Londoners were, with their dirty looks and pushing and shoving, because we weren't moving through the entry points fast enough for them. Then I thought, "Why is everyone in such a hurry when trains leave EVERY MINUTE OR TWO!!!!! Literally, if you miss a train, another one shows up in a minute. It's a great system! But people are rushing through like it's the end of the world or something.

It's ONE DAY a week. People save money. Relax.

 

[SlipperySlop]

Great. Even more people on my already packed northern line train on monday mornings.

I've come to expect huge numbers of negative and apple bashing posts for any given article. But I saw this article and wondered how anyone could possibly have anything negative to say about it. I was wrong.

 

[KPOM]

Wow that's awesome. Nothing like that in US I'm aware of.

Decent public transit? Me neither.

Chicago's transit system supports NFC payments. New York has an extensive transit system but they have an antiquated payment system that still uses swipe cards.