What you need to know
- Apple is now promoting Apple Pay Express Transit to people in London.
- Transport for London supports Express Transit and it's awesome.
- Apple has a new banner appearing in the Wallet app.
New messages are appearing in the Wallet app to remind people about Express Transit.
Apple has begun to promote its Apple Pay Express Transit feature to users in London — with Transport for London supporting the feature across the capital. The feature allows people to tap an iPhone or Apple Watch to a payment system without the need to invoke Apple Pay or authenticate whatsoever.
I used Express Transit during a recent visit to London and it's insanely great, but it seems Apple might be worried that enough people don't know about it already. To fix that, it's begun to put banners in the Wallet app to give people a heads-up, as noted by a number of people across Twitter.
Hey look a @TfL ad/reminder in the @Apple Wallet app! pic.twitter.com/at1AjB54tZ
— Nikolaj Hansen-Turton (@nikolajht) November 16, 2021
What makes Express Transit so great is the fact the iPhone or Apple Watch doesn't need to be powered on, allowing payments to be made even when a battery has run flat. Still, the speed afforded by the lack of authentication is perhaps its greatest feature.
Paying for journeys on Transport for London is easier with Express Mode for Apple Pay. You no longer need to authenticate your payment with Face ID or Touch ID. Simply select a card for travel in Wallet. Then just tap your iPhone or Apple Watch on the yellow card reader and go.
It isn't clear whether Apple is only showing notifications to people who haven't previously used Express Transit, but it would make more sense than displaying the banner to people who already have a card set up for the super speedy payment system.