Apple Pay Express Transit users hit with unintended charges at New York City turnstiles

AppleInsider

A small number of subway riders in New York City this week complained of a bug in Metro Transit Authority (MTA) tap-and-go turnstiles that inadvertently activates the Apple Pay Express Transit feature on user iPhones, resulting in double billing.

The MTA's One Metro New York, or OMNY, contactless fare readers are scanning rider iPhones even if the device is in a purse or pocket, reports the Gothamist. Those who experienced the error complain of charges on both a swiped MetroCard and through Apple Pay.

Express Transit enables iPhone and Apple Watch owners to conduct touchless terminal transactions without unlocking or waking their device.

Macartney Morris encountered the issue while passing through a reader at Grand Central on Tuesday. He entered the turnstile using a tap-to-pay MetroCard, which worked as advertised, only to find a standard fare also applied to Apple Pay.

"When I got to Queens I saw I had an Apple Pay notification that I was charged $2.75," Morris said. "My phone was in my jacket pocket, where I always keep it. I was really taken aback."

A number of customers shared similar stories on Twitter.

Morris and other notified the MTA of the apparent issue. Chief Revenue Officer Al Putre in a statement to the New York Post said "about 30 customers" had complained about unintended Apple Pay charges, adding that the public benefit corporation is working with Apple to fix the problem.

"The system is a popular success that's working well for the vast majority of people and we're in touch with Apple about addressing the issue of unintended taps," Putre said.

An Apple spokesperson told the publication Apple Pay Express Transit has not encountered issues in other cities. The feature is currently rolling out to select metropolitan areas after a U.S. debut in Portland last May.

"When a customer enters the greater New York transit area, they receive a notification that a payment card in Apple Wallet can be used for Express Transit. NYC residents are also informed about Apple Pay Express Transit when they add a payment card to Apple Wallet for the first time," Apple said in a statement. "Customers can easily turn off the feature in Settings on their iPhone at anytime and use Face ID or Touch ID to ride transit."

The MTA began rolling out Apple Pay Transit Express support to OMNY terminals last year. As of December, OMNY was live at 85 subway stations across NYC, all MTA-operated buses on Staten Island and two Staten Island Railway stations. Wide availability at all subway stations and MTA buses is planned for completion by the end of 2020.

jpellino

I asked at Lowes the other night why they don't do Apple pay - they said they tried, then there were duplicate charges in their system and they stopped.

Given that it works in many places, it sounds like their implementation rather than an Apple issue.  

sflocal

This is an interesting dilemma.  If a person is carrying both NFC methods when walking through the gate, sounds like it's more a mistake of the rider than a technological issue.

I suppose the system could check if more than one payment has been made on the same gate within milliseconds of each other, then it should only charge one method?

hammeroftruth

sflocal said:

This is an interesting dilemma.  If a person is carrying both NFC methods when walking through the gate, sounds like it's more a mistake of the rider than a technological issue.

I suppose the system could check if more than one payment has been made on the same gate within milliseconds of each other, then it should only charge one method?

Sounds more like a configuration issue than a rider issue. The article said that users affected didn’t even have their iPhone out which is weird since the nfc payment system is supposed to use whatever you place on it and not scan your devices and just charge them all. 

Sounds like an “Office Space” hack that was discovered before anyone internally could siphon off the money made by double charging. 

kevin kee

The station has right idea, but it didn't go well. How many of you wish you could just walk pass the gate and it will charge and open automatically without have to take out the card/phone? Interesting futuristic concept, hope they fix it by cancelling second payment made within a very short time.

JFC_PA

I was up in NYC for two weeks and in and out of the subway: I’ve got a discount Senior MetroCard so I can’t use ApplePay yet: I just checked, no extraneous charges BUT I did just turn off Express Transit as a precaution (it was on for my default ApplePay card and frankly I can’t remember turning that on but people might want to double check in case it’s either a default or a quick enrollment question it’s easy to day “yes” to). I carried my MetroCard in a pocket in my iPhone case (Vaja folio has one small card pocket which is convenient for transit cards) and would have my iPhone in my left hand as I swiped the card: or sometimes it was in a thigh pocket far below the level of the sensor. 

As the article mentions, with other cities not experiencing this is likely a sensor  sensitivity issue. Though based on my observation of how high a percentage of NYC riders are iPhone users it might also simply be the larger scale of use is catching a fringe issue. 

ETA: so my interpretation of this is it’s on by default once you’re detected entering the geofenced NYC metro area. The notification was probably buried and I missed it. 

“ When a customer enters the greater New York transit area, they receive a notification that a payment card in Apple Wallet can be used for Express Transit. NYC ”

payeco

sflocal said:

This is an interesting dilemma.  If a person is carrying both NFC methods when walking through the gate, sounds like it's more a mistake of the rider than a technological issue.

I suppose the system could check if more than one payment has been made on the same gate within milliseconds of each other, then it should only charge one method?

MetroCards aren’t NFC based. They use a magnetic strip. The NFC based OMNY cards have not rolled out yet. The only NFC based payment method right now is with a mobile wallet or a contactless credit/debit card.

What’s probably happening is people are swiping their MetroCard to pay but the NFC reader is picking up their phone in their pocket or purse. My guess this is because the MTA went the easiest route possible to retrofit the existing turnstiles which put the NFC reader at waist level, instead of on top of the turnstile gate where the MetroCard swipe reader is. If you keep your phone or your purse on your right side it could be easy to get too close and set it off. 

chadbag

How is it supposed to work?  Is there a place to set/place your phone or does it just scan NFC in the area?   

Sounds like NYC metro authorities need to go to Japan to see how to do it right.  Never had an issue there using my phone or watch. 

chadbag

How is it supposed to work?  Is there a place to set/place your phone or does it just scan NFC in the area?   

Sounds like NYC metro authorities need to go to Japan to see how to do it right.  Never had an issue there using my phone or watch. 

JFC_PA

payeco said:

sflocal said:

This is an interesting dilemma.  If a person is carrying both NFC methods when walking through the gate, sounds like it's more a mistake of the rider than a technological issue.

I suppose the system could check if more than one payment has been made on the same gate within milliseconds of each other, then it should only charge one method?

MetroCards aren’t NFC based. They use a magnetic strip. The NFC based OMNY cards have not rolled out yet. The only NFC based payment method right now is with a mobile wallet or a contactless credit/debit card.

What’s probably happening is people are swiping their MetroCard to pay but the NFC reader is picking up their phone in their pocket or purse. My guess this is because the MTA went the easiest route possible to retrofit the existing turnstiles which put the NFC reader at waist level, instead of on top of the turnstile gate where the MetroCard swipe reader is. If you keep your phone or your purse on your right side it could be easy to get too close and set it off. 

That’s very likely the glitch (swipe card plus iPhone) as the Apple Support site says the nfc terminal will select the transit card if both are detected. 

“ You can have a payment card and a transit card enabled for Express Transit mode in the same city. If your transit agency accepts payment cards and transit cards, the transit card is automatically selected by the contactless reader.”

payeco

chadbag said:

How is it supposed to work?  Is there a place to set/place your phone or does it just scan NFC in the area?   

Sounds like NYC metro authorities need to go to Japan to see how to do it right.  Never had an issue there using my phone or watch. 

Because in Japan the Suica readers are on top of the entry gate and flat. The OMNY readers are mounted to the front of the gate and tilted towards the person entering.

The MTA was trying to do this safely by rolling out OMNY slowly over the course of 18 months. This means turnstiles need to be able to read both MetroCards and NFC methods until the MetroCard is phased out completely. Because MetroCard funds are linked to a card and not an account there was no way to introduce a hybrid card that could be used both ways until the OMNY rollout is complete. That lead the MTA to have to retrofit existing turnstiles to read both payment methods.

payeco

JFC_PA said:

payeco said:

sflocal said:

This is an interesting dilemma.  If a person is carrying both NFC methods when walking through the gate, sounds like it's more a mistake of the rider than a technological issue.

I suppose the system could check if more than one payment has been made on the same gate within milliseconds of each other, then it should only charge one method?

MetroCards aren’t NFC based. They use a magnetic strip. The NFC based OMNY cards have not rolled out yet. The only NFC based payment method right now is with a mobile wallet or a contactless credit/debit card.

What’s probably happening is people are swiping their MetroCard to pay but the NFC reader is picking up their phone in their pocket or purse. My guess this is because the MTA went the easiest route possible to retrofit the existing turnstiles which put the NFC reader at waist level, instead of on top of the turnstile gate where the MetroCard swipe reader is. If you keep your phone or your purse on your right side it could be easy to get too close and set it off. 

That’s very likely the glitch (swipe card plus iPhone) as the Apple Support site says the nfc terminal will select the transit card if both are detected. 

“ You can have a payment card and a transit card enabled for Express Transit mode in the same city. If your transit agency accepts payment cards and transit cards, the transit card is automatically selected by the contactless reader.”

Re-read the first paragraph of my post. There is no NFC based transit card that you can add to your mobile wallet yet. It’s either Express Transit with a credit card in your mobile wallet or you’re using the magnetic strip based MetroCard, which has no NFC capability and can not be added to your mobile wallet. Express Transit only with a credit card or the mag strip on a MetroCard. That’s the only ways to pay right now. People are swiping with their MetroCard through the mag strip reader on the turnstile but are getting too close to the NFC reader with their phone in their pocket or purse and the NFC reader is charging for a fare as well.

JaiOh81

Re-read the first paragraph of my post. There is no NFC based transit card that you can add to your mobile wallet yet. It’s either Express Transit with a credit card in your mobile wallet or you’re using the magnetic strip based MetroCard, which has no NFC capability and can not be added to your mobile wallet. Express Transit only with a credit card or the mag strip on a MetroCard. That’s the only ways to pay right now. People are swiping with their MetroCard through the mag strip reader on the turnstile but are getting too close to the NFC reader with their phone in their pocket or purse and the NFC reader is charging for a fare as well.

The MTA is such a terrible organization. I’m not surprised they found a way to fck up something that’s supposed to be simple. They have readers installed on city busses now too and the drivers tell you they don’t work. Why not? 

tenthousandthings

payeco said:

JFC_PA said:

payeco said:

sflocal said:

This is an interesting dilemma.  If a person is carrying both NFC methods when walking through the gate, sounds like it's more a mistake of the rider than a technological issue.

I suppose the system could check if more than one payment has been made on the same gate within milliseconds of each other, then it should only charge one method?

MetroCards aren’t NFC based. They use a magnetic strip. The NFC based OMNY cards have not rolled out yet. The only NFC based payment method right now is with a mobile wallet or a contactless credit/debit card.

What’s probably happening is people are swiping their MetroCard to pay but the NFC reader is picking up their phone in their pocket or purse. My guess this is because the MTA went the easiest route possible to retrofit the existing turnstiles which put the NFC reader at waist level, instead of on top of the turnstile gate where the MetroCard swipe reader is. If you keep your phone or your purse on your right side it could be easy to get too close and set it off. 

That’s very likely the glitch (swipe card plus iPhone) as the Apple Support site says the nfc terminal will select the transit card if both are detected. 

“ You can have a payment card and a transit card enabled for Express Transit mode in the same city. If your transit agency accepts payment cards and transit cards, the transit card is automatically selected by the contactless reader.”

Re-read the first paragraph of my post. There is no NFC based transit card that you can add to your mobile wallet yet. It’s either Express Transit with a credit card in your mobile wallet or you’re using the magnetic strip based MetroCard, which has no NFC capability and can not be added to your mobile wallet. Express Transit only with a credit card or the mag strip on a MetroCard. That’s the only ways to pay right now. People are swiping with their MetroCard through the mag strip reader on the turnstile but are getting too close to the NFC reader with their phone in their pocket or purse and the NFC reader is charging for a fare as well.

Yes, there is a confusing error in this article’s description of Macartney Morris’s experience: the Gothamist and the Post articles and his original tweet all state clearly that Morris swiped a regular monthly MetroCard, but AI says he used “a tap-to-pay MetroCard, which worked as advertised” — such things do not yet exist (coming in 2021)

I’d lay odds the problem is with the handling of “unlimited” monthly MetroCards. 

maestro64

sflocal said:

This is an interesting dilemma.  If a person is carrying both NFC methods when walking through the gate, sounds like it's more a mistake of the rider than a technological issue.

I suppose the system could check if more than one payment has been made on the same gate within milliseconds of each other, then it should only charge one method?

Actually,how is the NFC feature on the phone processing a transaction without the person putting their finger print or face to activity the transaction. Yes I can put my phone up to a NFC terminal and the Apple Pay default CC comes up but no payment goes through until the phone is authorize. The fact the phone's NFC is being activated and authorize without the users knowledge sound like and implementation issue on the MTA, this does not happen with normal Apple Pay transactions. 

The other issue I am concern about here is the fact the Phone NFC was activated at a distance less than a few inches. Anytime I done a NFC transaction the phone or watch needs to be within a few inches of the reader, if you are further away then a 3 to 4 inches the reader does not see the phone or watch. This is done for a reason it keeps people from getting close to a tap to pay card or phone and activating it for a payment at any distance other than a few inches.

aduzik0504

I wonder if this is why they've silently delayed the Express Transit implementation on Ventra, the Chicago version of OMNY. Cubic, the contractor that operates Ventra, absolutely refuses to say anything about the delay.

In fact, they've never actually acknowledged that it is delayed. They quietly updated their website last month to say "coming soon" instead of "by the end of 2019", although there are still references to 2019 on other pages. The official Twitter account repeatedly replies with a single, copy-paste statement saying that it's coming soon and will not response to any questions. I contacted my alderman, and her office says that Ventra's official response to her, an elected official, was "no comment". They also refused to provide even that response for well over a month. They had to follow up several times even to get that. Something is seriously wrong with this company and its technology. If you lived through the original Ventra rollout 4-5 years ago, none of this is surprising. The company is incredibly shady and incompetent.

neilm

Sounds like there's more than one definition of the 'Near' in 'NFC'.

spice-boy

One feature I hope comes soon is the ability to buy a block of trips at a discount which is something I do with a physical metro card. 

chadbag

maestro64 said:

sflocal said:

This is an interesting dilemma.  If a person is carrying both NFC methods when walking through the gate, sounds like it's more a mistake of the rider than a technological issue.

I suppose the system could check if more than one payment has been made on the same gate within milliseconds of each other, then it should only charge one method?

Actually,how is the NFC feature on the phone processing a transaction without the person putting their finger print or face to activity the transaction. Yes I can put my phone up to a NFC terminal and the Apple Pay default CC comes up but no payment goes through until the phone is authorize. The fact the phone's NFC is being activated and authorize without the users knowledge sound like and implementation issue on the MTA, this does not happen with normal Apple Pay transactions. 

The other issue I am concern about here is the fact the Phone NFC was activated at a distance less than a few inches. Anytime I done a NFC transaction the phone or watch needs to be within a few inches of the reader, if you are further away then a 3 to 4 inches the reader does not see the phone or watch. This is done for a reason it keeps people from getting close to a tap to pay card or phone and activating it for a payment at any distance other than a few inches.

So there is a feature of Apple Pay that allows you to set one of your payment methods to be a “express transit” payment method.  That means that you do NOT need to authenticate each transaction when used at a transit terminal.  

One of the comments mentioned an Apple support thing about which one was prioritized when a terminal can handle both.  It chooses your express transit method and ignores you default payment method (if it is different).  

zoetmb

tenthousandthings said:

payeco said:

JFC_PA said:

payeco said:

sflocal said:

This is an interesting dilemma.  If a person is carrying both NFC methods when walking through the gate, sounds like it's more a mistake of the rider than a technological issue.

I suppose the system could check if more than one payment has been made on the same gate within milliseconds of each other, then it should only charge one method?

MetroCards aren’t NFC based. They use a magnetic strip. The NFC based OMNY cards have not rolled out yet. The only NFC based payment method right now is with a mobile wallet or a contactless credit/debit card.

What’s probably happening is people are swiping their MetroCard to pay but the NFC reader is picking up their phone in their pocket or purse. My guess this is because the MTA went the easiest route possible to retrofit the existing turnstiles which put the NFC reader at waist level, instead of on top of the turnstile gate where the MetroCard swipe reader is. If you keep your phone or your purse on your right side it could be easy to get too close and set it off. 

That’s very likely the glitch (swipe card plus iPhone) as the Apple Support site says the nfc terminal will select the transit card if both are detected. 

“ You can have a payment card and a transit card enabled for Express Transit mode in the same city. If your transit agency accepts payment cards and transit cards, the transit card is automatically selected by the contactless reader.”

Re-read the first paragraph of my post. There is no NFC based transit card that you can add to your mobile wallet yet. It’s either Express Transit with a credit card in your mobile wallet or you’re using the magnetic strip based MetroCard, which has no NFC capability and can not be added to your mobile wallet. Express Transit only with a credit card or the mag strip on a MetroCard. That’s the only ways to pay right now. People are swiping with their MetroCard through the mag strip reader on the turnstile but are getting too close to the NFC reader with their phone in their pocket or purse and the NFC reader is charging for a fare as well.

Yes, there is a confusing error in this article’s description of Macartney Morris’s experience: the Gothamist and the Post articles and his original tweet all state clearly that Morris swiped a regular monthly MetroCard, but AI says he used “a tap-to-pay MetroCard, which worked as advertised” — such things do not yet exist (coming in 2021)

I’d lay odds the problem is with the handling of “unlimited” monthly MetroCards. 

The problem right now is that the system is only implemented in a few stations.  It will probably take the MTA years to roll it out to all 472 stations (and there are multiple turnstiles at every station, I'd say somewhere between 5000 and 10,000 in total).   Even where it's been installed, it currently works in some stations, but not others.   I noticed it was turned on in some stations, but a tap-to-pay credit card didn't work last week, even though it worked for me in a different station a month or two ago.    You're absolutely correct that there's no such thing yet as a tap-to-pay MetroCard.  

People today carry so many devices and have many credit cards.   They have to get this thing working so it doesn't duplicate payments.   That indeed might be tricky on NFC (as opposed to "tap to pay") transactions.  What if someone is carrying a phone, a tablet and some sort of NFC card on them?    And since one person might use their device or card for another person, it can't be something as simple as only permitting one transaction per 15 seconds or something like that.  

Personally, I'd probably still stick with a separate card (whether physical or virtual), so I don't see endless line items on my other statements.  

payeco

zoetmb said:

tenthousandthings said:

payeco said:

JFC_PA said:

payeco said:

sflocal said:

This is an interesting dilemma.  If a person is carrying both NFC methods when walking through the gate, sounds like it's more a mistake of the rider than a technological issue.

I suppose the system could check if more than one payment has been made on the same gate within milliseconds of each other, then it should only charge one method?

MetroCards aren’t NFC based. They use a magnetic strip. The NFC based OMNY cards have not rolled out yet. The only NFC based payment method right now is with a mobile wallet or a contactless credit/debit card.

What’s probably happening is people are swiping their MetroCard to pay but the NFC reader is picking up their phone in their pocket or purse. My guess this is because the MTA went the easiest route possible to retrofit the existing turnstiles which put the NFC reader at waist level, instead of on top of the turnstile gate where the MetroCard swipe reader is. If you keep your phone or your purse on your right side it could be easy to get too close and set it off. 

That’s very likely the glitch (swipe card plus iPhone) as the Apple Support site says the nfc terminal will select the transit card if both are detected. 

“ You can have a payment card and a transit card enabled for Express Transit mode in the same city. If your transit agency accepts payment cards and transit cards, the transit card is automatically selected by the contactless reader.”

Re-read the first paragraph of my post. There is no NFC based transit card that you can add to your mobile wallet yet. It’s either Express Transit with a credit card in your mobile wallet or you’re using the magnetic strip based MetroCard, which has no NFC capability and can not be added to your mobile wallet. Express Transit only with a credit card or the mag strip on a MetroCard. That’s the only ways to pay right now. People are swiping with their MetroCard through the mag strip reader on the turnstile but are getting too close to the NFC reader with their phone in their pocket or purse and the NFC reader is charging for a fare as well.

Yes, there is a confusing error in this article’s description of Macartney Morris’s experience: the Gothamist and the Post articles and his original tweet all state clearly that Morris swiped a regular monthly MetroCard, but AI says he used “a tap-to-pay MetroCard, which worked as advertised” — such things do not yet exist (coming in 2021)

I’d lay odds the problem is with the handling of “unlimited” monthly MetroCards. 

The problem right now is that the system is only implemented in a few stations.  It will probably take the MTA years to roll it out to all 472 stations (and there are multiple turnstiles at every station, I'd say somewhere between 5000 and 10,000 in total).   Even where it's been installed, it currently works in some stations, but not others.   I noticed it was turned on in some stations, but a tap-to-pay credit card didn't work last week, even though it worked for me in a different station a month or two ago.    You're absolutely correct that there's no such thing yet as a tap-to-pay MetroCard.  

People today carry so many devices and have many credit cards.   They have to get this thing working so it doesn't duplicate payments.   That indeed might be tricky on NFC (as opposed to "tap to pay") transactions.  What if someone is carrying a phone, a tablet and some sort of NFC card on them?    And since one person might use their device or card for another person, it can't be something as simple as only permitting one transaction per 15 seconds or something like that.  

Personally, I'd probably still stick with a separate card (whether physical or virtual), so I don't see endless line items on my other statements.  

It’ll be rolled out to the entire subway and bus system before the end of the year. It’s already in 64 stations and they’re adding an additional 60 by the end of this month.

Also, FYI, NFC payments and tap to pay payments are the same thing.