Are you getting double charged on your PRESTO card? Here's why
Metrolinx is warning PRESTO card users they could be charged twice if they aren’t careful.
GO Train and UP Express travellers have been able to use their credit cards to pay for their adult fare since mid-August. They have also been able to tap with their phones or smartwatches if their credit card information is loaded.
But the transit agency says transit users who use this contactless payment method will want to be careful with how they’re tapping to avoid any “card clash.”
“Card clash occurs when a customer accidentally taps more than one recognizable card onto payment device,” a spokesperson for Metrolinx told CTV News Toronto via email.
“If a customer taps their whole wallet, the payment device may recognize only the card closest to the reader, and therefore, it may not be the card the customer had intended to pay with.”
This means a customer who taps their wallet, thinking the machine will pick up on their PRESTO card first, might actually have their credit card charged instead.
“When this happens, the credit card is expecting the customer to tap off at their destination,” the spokesperson said. “This would show as a missed tap-off on our system.”
WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU DON’T TAP OFF OR SWAP CARDS?
GO Transit and UP Express use a distance-based fare system, which means if you forget to tap off at the end of your trip, it will charge the full fare to the last stop on the line or route.
“This is the same whether you’ve tapped with your credit card or PRESTO card (unless you have a default trip set and have travelled that route),” Metrolinx said.
The transit agency also notes riders cannot tap off with a different payment method than the one they started with, even if their mobile wallet is connected to the same credit card used to tap on.
“If you do use a different payment method to tap off, it will be recognized as the start of a new trip.”
Metrolinx says they have not heard of any concerning reports or issues with the new contactless payment method since the program launched.
“With the expansion of payment methods across the GO network and select local transit agencies, it’s important that all riders - whether using a PRESTO card, credit card, or mobile wallet - remember to tap off with the same card or method they used to tap on.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Doctors say capital gains tax changes will jeopardize their retirement. Is that true?
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
It's no secret that spring can be a tumultuous time for Canadian weather, and as an unseasonably mild El Nino winter gives way to summer, there's bound to be a few swings in temperature that seem out of the ordinary. From Ontario to the Atlantic, though, this week is about to feel a little erratic.
What do weight loss drugs mean for a diet industry built on eating less and exercising more?
Recent injected drugs like Wegovy and its predecessor, the diabetes medication Ozempic, are reshaping the health and fitness industries.
He replaced Mickey Mantle. Now baseball's oldest living major leaguer is turning 100
The oldest living former major leaguer, Art Schallock turns 100 on Thursday and is being celebrated in the Bay Area and beyond as the milestone approaches.
What a urologist wants you to know about male infertility
When opposite sex couples are trying and failing to get pregnant, the attention often focuses on the woman. That’s not always the case.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
It could take years to catch up on child vaccinations in Ontario post-pandemic
Ontario is still playing catch up on routine vaccinations that many children missed during the pandemic and public health officials are warning that it could take years to solve the problem.