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
BREAKING Honda to get up to $5B in govt help for EV battery, assembly plants
Honda is set to build an electric vehicle battery plant next to its Alliston, Ont., assembly plant, which it is retooling to produce fully electric vehicles, all part of a $15-billion project that is expected to include up to $5 billion in public money.
BREAKING New York appeals court overturns Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction from landmark #MeToo trial
New York’s highest court on Thursday overturned Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction, finding the judge at the landmark #MeToo trial prejudiced the ex-movie mogul with improper rulings, including a decision to let women testify about allegations that weren’t part of the case.
Residents of northern Alberta First Nation told to shelter in place
Residents of John D'Or Prairie, a community on the Little Red River Cree Nation in northern Alberta, were told to take shelter Thursday morning during a police operation.
Secret $70M Lotto Max winners break their silence
During a special winner celebration near their hometown, Doug and Enid shared the story of how they discovered they were holding a Lotto Max ticket worth $70 million and how they kept this huge secret for so long.
Remains from a mother-daughter cold case were found nearly 24 years later, after a deathbed confession from the suspect
A West Virginia father is getting some sense of closure after authorities found the remains of his young daughter and her mother following a deathbed confession from the man believed to have fatally shot them nearly two decades ago.
Monthly earnings rise, payroll employment falls: jobs report
The number of vacant jobs in Canada increased in February, while monthly payroll employment decreased in food services, manufacturing, and retail trade, among other sectors.
First in Canada procedure performed at London, Ont. hospital
A London man has become the first person in Canada to receive a robotic assisted surgery on his spine. Dave Myeh suffered from debilitating, chronic back pain that led to sciatica in his right now and extreme pain in his lower back.
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.