Apple had already brought in a directly negotiated integration with Transport London (TfL), enabling payment at the turnstile via Apple Pay via your iPhone. The service, however, relied on biometric identification for approval, with Face ID or TouchID, making it slower by a few seconds than the same Google Pay service or transport card.
So this Monday, December 2, Apple launched Express Transit in the City of London, accelerating these transactions at the turnstiles with Apple cellular devices. Now, Apple Pay users can select a credit card to pay for the trip, so biometric identification is no longer needed, which makes Apple's service now the fastest of all.
The default Apple Pay card is automatically selected as the Express Transit card, and you can change the card at any time in the app's settings. Not all devices are supported though. Only iPhone SE, 6S or higher have access to new functionality in London, the same goes for the Apple Watch. However, iPhones XS, XR and above can still use Apple Pay for up to 5 hours if the device runs out of battery after the first use in TfL.
London Transport's network accounts for around 25 million contactless trips a week, with 20% of those trips being paid for with a smartwatch or smartphone mobile device. The new technology makes life easier for the population by streamlining the payment of travel, preventing situations such as transport cards without credit and the need to buy tickets or pay in cash. The payment of public transport by smartphones is still in its infancy in Spain, but it should not take long to be implemented on a large scale in the main capitals of the country.
