Commuters can use their contactless card at Gautrain stations
Gautrain is an 80-kilometre (50 mi) commuter rail system in Gauteng, South Africa, which links Johannesburg, Pretoria, Ekurhuleni and O. R. Tambo International Airport. It was built to relieve the traffic congestion in the Johannesburg–Pretoria traffic corridor and offer commuters a viable alternative to road transport, as Johannesburg has limited public transport infrastructure. contactless cards
As of October 31 2019, commuters can use their contactless cards to tag in and out at Gautrain stations and Gaubuses and to tag out of Gautrain parking lots.
What is a contactless card?
Contactless payment systems are found in credit cards, debit cards, key fobs, smart cards, or other devices, including smartphones and other mobile devices and are part of technology that enables one to make secure payments using radio-frequency identification (RFID) or near field communication (NFC).
Most mobile devices (Samsung Pay, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Fitbit Pay, or any bank mobile application that supports contactless technology) and major South African banks have introduced this technology.
The embedded chip and antenna enable consumers to wave their card or handheld device over a reader at the point of sale terminal in order to complete a transaction – often without requiring a pin.
The amount limit for contactless payments is often quite low to safeguard against misuse of the technology should the card fall into the wrong hands. As a safety mechanism, contactless devices and cards also occasionally require the user to enter the card pin to complete the transaction.
“Whether you choose to use a contactless bank card or not, please take care to avoid card clash as of 31 October 2019 by tagging in and out with the card that you choose to travel with (either your Gautrain card or your contactless bank card) and not with your wallet or purse,” advises Gautrain in a statement.
“Tagging in by touching your wallet or purse to a fare gate may result in card clash as the fare gate reader is unable to determine which card you intend to travel with. As a result, your fare may be charged to the card you did not intend to travel with, or, more than one of the cards contained in your wallet or purse may be charged. To avoid card clash, remove the card you intend to pay with from your wallet or purse and tag in and out with that same card,” explains the Gautrain.
Tagging in and out with two different contactless bank cards will result in a penalty fee of R200 being charged to each contactless card.
To ensure the security and privacy of your bank card, Gautrain stresses that they do not store bank card numbers. Instead, bank card numbers are converted to a token which is then saved.
If you would like to use your contactless bank card on the Gautrain service and receive important updates and information pertaining to your travel, please submit your unique token and contact details here.
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