Open payments or “Tap to Pay” started today. Several transit agencies’ bus and rail readers including Sound Transit and Metro now accept not only ORCA cards but also credit cards and digital wallets (pay by phone).
Open payments raise the risk that if you have both an ORCA card and credit cards or debit cards in your wallet, it may charge the wrong card or multiple cards or refuse the transaction.
How are your experiences with it?
No announcements are being made at Link stations, or signage anywhere. When NYC started OMNY (their version of open payments), ads were plastered on every wall and inside every train for months. Ticket vending machines have big signs saying that if you have a credit card, you don’t to use the machine and should tap directly. Without that kind of advertising, I think adoption will be pretty anemic and confusing.
Both ST and Metro sent email alerts this morning, which I hadn’t expected. Although you’d only see them if you’re signed up for those alerts and check your device before riding.
At the launch event someone mentioned an upcoming ad campaign for Tap to Pay (with the slogan “Every card is welcome aboard”). Those ads will probably be around until after the World Cup games.
I tried Metro this morning (a Pike-Pine route). Instead of the usual confirmation, “Good until March 1, 2026”, for my monthly pass it said “Thank you”. This gives no indication which card it charged. This alarmed me and motivated me to write this article, so that people’s actual experiences wouldn’t get lost in the 60th comment to Friday’s article that some people may not be reading anymore.
I did my errand and did a redundant Link trip to see what it would do. It gave the reassuring “Good until March 1, 2026” message. As I stepped into the train I realized I didn’t have to ride it, I just had to tap, so I walked out again.
I then did another Metro trip home. It gave me the reassuring message.
When I got home, I checked my bank transactions and ORCA history to see which card it charged. The second two are in my ORCA history and charged my pass. The first one is nowhere: not in my credit card transactions nor my debit card transactions. I thought there might be an authorization, but not yet. So I don’t know what I’ll see tomorrow.
I keep my credit card wrapped in a fold of foil because of a previous reader update that errored out with a “One card at a time, please” error. My debit card isn’t wrapped because it didn’t have that problem. But depending on what happens tomorrow, and whether the readers behave consistently from day to day, I may have to wrap it too, or take my ORCA card out of my wallet every time.
Taking my ORCA card out of my wallet is problematic if I’m carrying heavy grocery bags, if my leg is particularly sore that day or I’ve walked a lot so every extra minute of walking or standing is an ordeal, or if I’m extra tired that day. So I’m not looking forward to it if I have to. I may look for a wallet with a shielded outside card pocket, but I also want a chain wallet so I don’t lose my wallet, so I’m not sure if I can find one with both features.
I use e-purse almost exclusively. I’ve noticed that when the ORCA readers beeps and just says “Thank you” (no balance message and no “Good Until X”), there’s no evidence it actually charged anything. My guess is that this means there was some sort of error and instead of telling you to tap again, it’s just “waving” you on. This is fine for the majority of ORCA users who are using systems where fare enforcement is observed at time of boarding (by bus operators), but seems problematic on Link where fare enforcement officers can’t confirm a non-paying rider’s story about whether the ORCA pad “booped” for them or whether they simple didn’t present payment.
FWIW I only use a pass and have seen the “Thank you” message before when tapping the 1st time instead of the ‘good until X’ message.
Maybe “Thank You” means “Welcome to open payments”.
I’d always recommend set up in your digital wallet and tap using phone if you don’t mind. It pretty much eliminates all the problem.
I have been using my ORCA card in my Google Wallet for quite some time now (ever since it was first introduced) and it had always worked perfectly.
Since they started rolling out the new scanners that accept credit cards, tapping my phone has charged my credit card instead of my ORCA card not once, but twice. That’s incredibly frustrating since I have a monthly pass and I’ve just been charged six extra dollars.
The only workaround I’ve found for this is to go into Google Wallet settings and make sure the setting to force verification for transit payments with credit card is on. This makes it so the phone has to be unlocked to use the credit card. Then, I make sure my phone is locked before tapping and it can only charge the ORCA card, which is still risky because if my phone sees my face and unlocks with face ID, it could charge my credit card instead.
I shouldn’t need to do this workaround. I’m very upset with how this is happening. I’ve reached out to ORCA and received no response.
I’ll stick with my card. I don’t want to keep track of my trips on my bank account.
I’ve had way too many spurious blocks to my credit and debit cards from fraud detection to be comfortable relying on them for transit fares. My Orca cards have always worked.
And ever since multiple-passengers-on-one-Orca-card stopped working, I’ve kept multiple Orca cards in my wallet. So I’ve had to take the Orca card that I want to use out of my wallet to pay. There’s no change there.
I will continue to use my ORCA card since its provided by my employer. I don’t take it out of my wallet and my credit card, which is just behind it, has yet to be charged incorrectly.
I have seen my partner use both her phone and credit card and everything seemed to function properly. One neat bonus is that the Alaska Airlines credit card awards 2 miles per $1 spent on local transit. 4.5 years of riding the bus everyday should get us tickets to Europe! Haha
I don’t have a digital wallet and I don’t see any reason to get one. As Ralph Nader said, “What is the problem that this new technology [digital wallets] is trying to solve? Is this a problem that really needs a solution?” Yes, some people prefer not to carry cards in their wallet, or not carry a wallet at all, but that seems more of a marketer-generated hype need and one interpretation of minimalism rather than a major need.
When TF are the transfer slips going away? What other major city transit agency still uses them?