Ever felt tired of losing multiple physical PRESTO cards or forgetting it at home on a busy morning? Apple teamed up with Metrolinx to provide an easy and secure solution for that.
On Tuesday morning, Apple and Metrolinx announced that customers can now add a PRESTO card to their Apple Wallet, allowing them to simply tap their iPhone or Apple Watch to ride transit across the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA).
Riders don’t even need to wake up or unlock their device. By enabling Express Mode, they can just hold their iPhone or Apple Watch near a card reader to ride transit.
Adding PRESTO to Apple Wallet
Using Apple Wallet, anyone can either create a new PRESTO card or add their existing one to their devices.
To create a new account, open the Wallet app on your iPhone, tap the Add (+) button, select “Transit Card,” and simply follow the instructions.
For those who already have a registered physical PRESTO card, you can add it to your iPhone or Apple Watch by selecting the card in the PRESTO app and following the onscreen instructions.
Loading funds to PRESTO card
Users can either reload their cards with funds directly through the PRESTO app or using Apple Pay in Wallet. Transit passes, such as the TTC Monthly Pass, can also be purchased from both the PRESTO app and Apple Wallet.
What if your phone or watch has low battery?
For those worried about low battery situations, iPhone Xr and later models have a power reserve mode. With this mode enabled, you can still use your phone or watch to ride transit even if your device needs to be charged.
Limitations
However, there are some limitations to this technology: only one PRESTO card can be enabled with Express Mode at a time. For those with multiple PRESTO cards, they will need to choose which transit card to enable for Express Mode from the Settings app.
Second, if users are running low on battery, they can put their devices on Express mode which enables the Power Reserve feature allowing riders to use their PRESTO cards for up to five hours. But if your phone dies, Express Mode becomes unavailable.
Additionally, transferring your PRESTO card from your physical card to your Wallet disables the physical card, making it unusable.
Finally, this new feature is only compatible with iPhone SE (2nd generation) or iPhone 8 or later with iOS 16.4 or later, or an Apple Watch Series 4 or later with watchOS 9.4 or later.
Security and Privacy
“PRESTO cards stored in Wallet are private and secure, and Apple never tracks users’ journeys,” an Apple statement shared with Now Toronto said.
The tech company says when customers add a PRESTO card to their Wallet, their card information is “encrypted and securely stored in the Secure Element, an industry-standard, certified chip designed to store the information safely on the device.”
