Updated: Sept. 28, 1:47 p.m.
PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Forget your Key card at home? No problem. At long last, SEPTA is rolling out contactless fare payment. Starting Friday, transit riders will have the ability to pay fares by tapping a credit or debit card, or smartphone wallet.
That means no SEPTA account or Key card is necessary to tap and ride, says SEPTA Chief of Staff Liz Smith.
"If you have a mobile wallet set up using Apple Pay, Google Pay or Samsung Pay, you just open up your payment method on your phone, use your passcode or your face ID to activate it, put it right on the validator, and it'll let you through," Smith said. A validator is the device that riders currently tap their Key cards on.
It's the same tap-and-go if you have an RFID-enabled credit or debit card.
“And it will work on all of our transit systems."
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It's a convenience that riders have wanted for a long time. Smith says SEPTA has been testing the technology since August, and riders have been giving positive feedback.
"People who said it was freeing to not have to worry to bring their Key card with them everywhere. We got feedback, from those that are occasional riders, that it was a much more convenient way to pay," she said.
SEPTA board chair Pat Deon says the added convenience should attract more riders. "We're thinking it's going to be about a 4% increase in ridership using this system," said Deon.
Deon was among the officials on hand Thursday at City Hall to demonstrate the new system at the subway entrance under Dilworth Park. He says it took years to not only acquire the chips for the readers, but to coordinate compliance with MasterCard, Visa and other payment systems.
"Could it have been faster? Absolutely," he admitted. "I would have really liked to be faster. I'm just glad it's here."
Contactless payment is being launched on the Broad Street Line, the Market-Frankford Line, buses, trolleys and the Norristown High Speed Line.
But not yet, for Regional Rail. Smith says that capability should be ready early in 2024.