And also, there are people who have spent 2 hours figuring out how to register their card (e.g. making an unnecessary trip to Presto offices) only to spend 5-10 minutes registering it online right after.
I keep hearing SO MANY horror stories of lost money because they never thought or figured out how to register their Presto card. At this stage, it is just easier to tell people four words "Just take a photo" of the back of the card for private keepsies.
Also there are many people who have a broken/cracked card in hand and they were (
wrongly) told that money cannot be recovered because it was not registered. Balderdash! You've got the cracked card, the number's still legible, just register it online.
I've saved a guy who was incorrectly told by a TTC rep that the funds could not be saved.
He had the the two broken pieces of unregistered Presto card.
100% unreadable & 100% untappable.
But all numbers was still legible on the back.
We typed it into the browser together, and viola -- registered a shattered Presto card.
Then immediately transferred to another card.
Funds were saved!
Don't you need the four digit pin number used when the card was issued? And/or the three digit verification number?
Yes, but the photo contains
all of that.
The Presto number and 3-digit verification number are on the back of the card, above each other. All of the numbers are all on the same side of the Presto card. One photograph captures both of them!
If writing down, you obviously need to write down all numbers (as you would with backing up credit card info -- verification number included -- into a password manager -- or bedroom-drawer post-it-note -- or web browser autofill).
I hate to sound like a broken record, but it's also a lifesaver for people on assistance (the very people who have more difficulty figuring out how to register a Presto card -- Down's syndrome included -- are the very people who have difficulty affording to replace lost Metropasses in the past). And, email/message the photo to yourself / spouse / trusted helper, so you have a backup in your private cloud (or Sent mailbox) in case you lose your phone.
I've done it before, it works.
Yes, certainly, it's best to register right away, but sometimes it's not practical, you're walking, having just purchased Presto from Shopper's Drug Mart, and you're not sure your forgetful "smartphone-reluctant" friend will actually register it right away. It's easier to coax them to take a photo than to help them type "
www.prestocard.ca" into a tiny touchscreen keyboard they barely know how to type on. Sometimes it is a "
Please take a secret photo of your Presto card back now, if you can't promise to register it online today. Either move will save your ass if you lose your card." situation.
I've seen thousands of dollars combined worth of heartbreak already.