Technology can help you to get things done easily. You can feel the difference what technology can do for you when living in countries like China. With the help of apps like WeChat, ultimately you don’t need any physical stuffs like wallet or bankcard to live your daily live. Continuing the trend, you also don’t need to bring your physical transport card anymore with you for commuting around.
What is Transit or Transport Card?
Public transport is one of the easiest ways to move around in bigger cities like Beijing or Shanghai in China. You can either pay money in the bus or get temporary transport card in train stations. However, this will be a costly when you are a daily commuter. The solution is to use public transport card which can save money and help you to avoid running for changes. For example, the minimum transport fee in Beijing buses is 2RMB when you pay by coins. the same will cost you only 1RMB, that is 50% off when paid through the transport card.
How to Get Transport Card in China?
You can get the public transport card from any bigger train stations. The card will cost you around 20RMB which is a refundable amount. You need to add money whenever needed to the card in order to use for transport. You can use the transport card in buses and trains to check in and out. Some cities like Shanghai also accept the transport card for taxi travel.
When you decided not to uses the card, you can return and get the refund of the 20RMB.
How to Add China Transport Card in iPhone?
Now that you know where to buy if you are in Beijing, Shanghai or any other city in China. However, buying a physical card is no more needed as you can directly use your iPhone with iOS 13. You can also transfer your card details to the phone and use it on buses and trains.
Note that Apple supports transit cards only in few locations. Check out the Apple support page for the supported country’s transit cards. In China, below transit cards are supported:
- Beijing transit card (express mode supported)
- Shanghai transit card (express mode supported)
- Guangzhou UnionPay credit card (no express mode)
- Hangzhou UnionPay credit and debit cards (no express mode)
Adding New Transport Card
Follow the below instructions to buy and add a new virtual card to your iPhone.
- Unlock your iPhone and launch “Settings” app.
- Tap on “Wallet & Apple Pay” option and select “Add Card”.
- On the next screen, tap on “Scan or Add Card” button.
- Depending upon where you have purchased your iPhone, it will show you different options for adding debit and transport card.
- If you have purchased iPhone in Beijing or Shanghai, you will see two options for “Beijing Transit Card” and “Shanghai Transit Card” like below under “Transit Cards” section.
- Let us explain with Beijing transport card. So, tap on the “Beijing Transit Card” option.
- Enter the amount and tap on “Add” button”.
- Confirm the payment to add a new card to your Wallet.
Transferring Existing Transport Card
If you have purchased a transit card before then you can transfer the money from the card to your phone.
- Instead of entering the money for a new card, tap on “Transfer Existing Card” option.
- Type the last four digits of the card and tap on “Next”.
- Tap on “Agree” to accept the terms and conditions.
- Now that keep your card on the flat surface and scan the details with your phone as shown in the below picture. You can simply keep the iPhone on your card to transfer the details.
- You should see the message like “Transferring…” when the data is moved to your iPhone.
- After successful transfer, you will see a message indicating you card has been added and the entire balance amount is transferred to your iPhone.
Viewing Card Details
Go back to “Wallet & Apple Pay” section to see that you have a new transport card added.
- You can add money or remove the card anytime.
- Get the details of each transaction spent using the iPhone card.
- Add money to recharge the card.
You can add multiple cards in your iPhone and use for transit in buses and trains.
Useful Settings
There are two important settings that allow you to use the iPhone card effectively:
- Double-Click Side Button – you can enable this option to quickly open the card for paying with the reader.
- Express Transit Card – choose the card as your express card. With this option you can pay for the transit without using the Face ID or Touch ID or passcode.
Paying for Transport
Depending upon your settings you can pay using one of the below methods.
1. Express Transit Card Enabled
When you are getting in the bus, simply show your phone in front of the card reader. This will instantly the amount and you will see a notification that you travel is in progress.
2. Double-Click Side Button Enabled
If you have only enabled “Double-Click Side Button” option, double press the power button on the side to open the default transport card. You can show the card to reader on the bus or train to pay.
Remember, you can also enable both express card and double-click option and use one of the methods at any time.
3. Open and Show the Card
If you have not enabled double-click or express card then you need to open the transit card and show in in front of the reader manually.
No matter which method you use, ensure to show the iPhone and exit the bus to complete the travel. If you forget to show the card on exit, you may pay full amount when you get in the bus again. You can also use the iPhone to enter and exit the subway train stations without hassle.
As mentioned above, you can get the details of each transaction in the settings page of your iPhone under the card you have used for travel.
Using Transport App
If you have any difficulties in using the above method, you can also use the app for the payment. When you are in the bus or train, scan the QR code to go to the App Store and download the transport app. In addition, you can also find the app details on the settings page if you have added a transit card.
Final Words
WeChat, Alipay and other apps make your life easier when you live in China. In addition, you can use the iPhone to add your transport card to make your commute also easier without taking physical card or money.
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