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1) What you describe (bypassing Apple Wallet and using the Presto Card app to tap on readers) is not possible on iPhones so it would have to be android-only.

2) The document you linked to is extremely clear, IMO: "The first phase of PRESTO Card in Mobile Wallet, which will enable customers to add a virtual PRESTO card into their smartphone wallet to tap and pay at PRESTO devices [...]" (emphasis mine). The Presto Card app is not a "smartphone wallet", Apple/Google Wallet are.
I said I wasn't sure if it was going to be via Apple/Google Wallet because several years ago at a Metrolinx board meeting where "PRESTO Mobile" was first presented, they did a live mock-up demonstration of the virtual PRESTO Card system and they were using the PRESTO Card app on a smartphone as the virtual wallet.
 
I said I wasn't sure if it was going to be via Apple/Google Wallet because several years ago at a Metrolinx board meeting where "PRESTO Mobile" was first presented, they did a live mock-up demonstration of the virtual PRESTO Card system and they were using the PRESTO Card app on a smartphone as the virtual wallet.
Perhaps they are going to use the Transit Card functionality built into Apple/Google Wallets - it keeps the transit card as the default payment and allows tap without having to authenticate on the phone (if you chose this) - I believe it may even allow tap if your phone is on zero charge/low power mode
 
TransLink is issuing a train-shaped Compass fare card:

Compass-Mini-Train-3-e1670975708197.jpeg

 
This was a good post by dkazzed in the Edmonton forum. Thought I’d share it here for those who don’t stray that way too often.

We can only hope Arc gets this popular. Translink released 3000 adult and 2000 concession Compass keychains for $6. The headlights on the train light up when tapped.

0c56fee8-bf29-4a8e-9d37-29323003983f-jpeg.445319


I waited 2 hours to snag one. The lineup circled Waterfront Station 3 times. I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to get one.

361e70fe-7186-48af-ad76-068d463742a6-jpeg.445320
Source

Good to see how popular these things are! We really ought to do something like this here.
 
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Are there Presto wristbands? Those are good for kids , disabled or elderly.
TransLink has had them since pre-2019.
That’s an interesting idea. I suspect however, that companies are increasingly going to avoid building dedicated hardware and rely on adding the card to a smartwatch.
 
Mildly amusing that the new PRESTO readers are just a cheap cell phone mounted upside down in a box.


We spent $1.7B plus on this system, then extended the contract of Accenture in a sole-sourced bid for hundreds of millions more, and it just goes on and on.
I guess we got our money's worth.
 

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