New York City subway will replace MetroCard with Apple Pay tap-to-pay starting in 2018
The New York City Metropolitan Transportation Authority on Monday approved a new $573 million contract that will see subway turnstiles support contactless payment services, including Apple Pay on iPhone and Apple Watch.
The MTA's new plan appears to move away from the MetroCard system, where funds are stored on a swipeable card, in favor of a pay-per-use model using existing NFC payment technology. That will include Apple Pay, as well as Android Pay, Samsung Pay, and NFC-equipped credit cards, according to The New York Times.
Currently, New York's MetroCard system requires users to pre-fill a card that can be swiped at the turnstile. Moving away from the system should expedite travel, as users will no longer receive swipe errors, nor will they need to visit a kiosk to refill their card.
However, the MetroCard will remain for the foreseeable future, working in tandem with the new tap-to-pay functionality through at least 2023.
In the interim, The MTA will begin phasing in the new NFC payment terminals at 500 subway turnstiles and 600 buses by late 2018. The more than half-billion-dollar contract calls for all subway stations and buses to have support for Apple Pay by late 2020.
The MTA first put out a call for proposals for a new fare payment system in April of 2016.
Of the world's 10 busiest metro systems, only New York City and Mexico City have yet to implement contactless fares.But Mexico City is on schedule to beat New York City with its first tap-and-go cards launching through Mastercard in November.
The MTA's new plan appears to move away from the MetroCard system, where funds are stored on a swipeable card, in favor of a pay-per-use model using existing NFC payment technology. That will include Apple Pay, as well as Android Pay, Samsung Pay, and NFC-equipped credit cards, according to The New York Times.
Currently, New York's MetroCard system requires users to pre-fill a card that can be swiped at the turnstile. Moving away from the system should expedite travel, as users will no longer receive swipe errors, nor will they need to visit a kiosk to refill their card.
However, the MetroCard will remain for the foreseeable future, working in tandem with the new tap-to-pay functionality through at least 2023.
In the interim, The MTA will begin phasing in the new NFC payment terminals at 500 subway turnstiles and 600 buses by late 2018. The more than half-billion-dollar contract calls for all subway stations and buses to have support for Apple Pay by late 2020.
The MTA first put out a call for proposals for a new fare payment system in April of 2016.
Of the world's 10 busiest metro systems, only New York City and Mexico City have yet to implement contactless fares.But Mexico City is on schedule to beat New York City with its first tap-and-go cards launching through Mastercard in November.
Comments
"However, the MetroCard will remain for the foreseeable future, working in tandem with the new tap-to-pay functionality through at least 2023."
It is interesting that of all the places I've been in the US, NYC is the one that uses what now seems an antiquated cardboard card. I realise that updating the entire Subway system is non-trivial, so it makes sense that they've taken longer than most to update, but it does mean one fewer cards in my collection of international travel cards. (Although maybe I'll get a card anyway, since credit card fees, plus ForEx fees might make using Apple Pay more expensive, if a lot more convenient.
Witness any negative article on Airpods (wireless headphones).
I have no doubt that the Metro will have more iPhones at first using this, but Apple did NOTHING to invent in this space. It’s all tech that’s been there before.
1. Many users will still need to keep a metrocard handy until contactless payments are available system wide.
2. I could be wrong but I would think that one of the options for users would be a pre-loaded card for those who would prefer that instead of hitting a debit/credit card with dozens of small charges all the time. Like any gift card that can be used through the Wallet. Personally, I'd rather load up an electronic metrocard once a month than see lots of small charges pinging my account each week.
3.What's the option after 2023 for people who don't have smartphones tied to bank accounts or credit cards? There will be those people.
Contactless payment methods have been around for a looong time.
I think NTT DoCoMo started putting the Suica IC chip in some of their phones around 2005, so Tokyo commuters were swiping their phones at train fare gates and convenience stores before there were iPhones.
Apple is not the innovators in the contactless payment system world.
2) The next step is getting more than just CC and debit cards to use Apple Pay. We've already seen some support for loyalty and store brand cards so I wouldn't be surprised if even next year we see that adoption grow. For example, NFC-based payments that not only let you use, say, a Starbucks card that you reload, but also auto-select that as default because the vendorI ID of the terminal (or even a geofence) tells the iPhone which payment option is mostly likely needed. I'd also like this to further select different cards for, say grocery v restaurant v fuel, as I may use different cards for different types of purchases or particular stores.
The difficult part, logically speaking, is to have a single NFC usage that will use my loyalty card and make a payment. For example, I'm at the grocery store where I use a loyalty card to get discounts and then use a CC to pay. This may require two NFC-based transactions to do both steps so I don't have to input my phone number or pull out the barcode on my keychain, but I don't want to choose from 5 different loyalty cards and CCs on each NFC tap make that happen. I'm not sure there's a solution until the NFC handshake can be more verbal.
3) Let's work on an option for 2018 before we think about "what ifs" in 2023. They can always extend Metro Card card use in the future. It's not like CC has made the check obsolete or the check has made cash obsolete. Hell, fax machines are still commonly used in 2017 and will be used for the foreseeable future (which I find irksome).