UP Express becomes first in Canada to allow riders to use debit cards to 'tap-on'
UP Express customers can now tap-on and pay for their ride using debit cards instead of having to pre-purchase a ticket or load their PRESTO card.
In March, Metrolinx launched a pilot program allowing for contactless payment on UP Express, the rail link that connects Union Station with Toronto Pearson International Airport.
The transit company started the pilot project with allowing customers to tap their physical credit card or the credit card in their mobile wallet to pay for their fare.
On Thursday, the transit agency said customers will also be able to tap on and off using their Interac Debit, Visa Debit and Debit Mastercard, or by adding these cards to their mobile wallet and tapping with their phone or smart watch.
“This not only means more choice and convenience for UP Express customers, it also makes us the first transit agency in Canada to offer a Canadian contactless debit option as a way to pay,” spokesperson Nitish Bissonauth said.
“These new payment options are all about giving our customers more choice. Customers will have the freedom to choose how they’d like to pay – whether that’s with their PRESTO card or with one of these new options we’re introducing.”
Customers can continue to use their Visa, Mastercard or American Express credit cards (physical or digital version in their mobile wallet) to pay, as well as more traditional options like a PRESTO card and e-tickets.
The transit agency said that for both credit and debit card use, customers will still need to tap on and off in the same way as when they use a PRESTO card.
“If a rider taps on with a debit card, they must tap off with the same debit card. If they tap on with a phone or watch, they must tap off with the same phone or watch using the same card set up in their mobile wallet,” the company said.
“Before you go tapping away, it’s worth mentioning that when a customer taps a debit card at the beginning of a trip, a temporary $15 pre-authorization may be placed on that card, even if the actual fare is less.”
Metrolinx said this amount may be held by a bank until PRESTO calculates the actual fare for the trip and charges the customer’s bank account, and that final charges should typically appear within 24 hours.
The company said it plans to be rolling out its credit, debit, and mobile wallets payment program to “more transit agencies across the region.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Boeing's financial woes continue, while families of crash victims urge U.S. to prosecute the company
Boeing said Wednesday that it lost US$355 million on falling revenue in the first quarter, another sign of the crisis gripping the aircraft manufacturer as it faces increasing scrutiny over the safety of its planes and accusations of shoddy work from a growing number of whistleblowers.
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.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
"It's a bit of a complicated pattern; we've got a lot going on," said Jennifer Smith of the Meteorological Service of Canada in an interview with CTVNews.ca on Wednesday. "[As is] typical with weather, all of these things are related."
Police tangle with students in Texas and California as wave of campus protest against Gaza war grows
Police tangled with student demonstrators in Texas and California while new encampments sprouted Wednesday at Harvard and other colleges as school leaders sought ways to defuse a growing wave of pro-Palestinian protests.