Since Apple Pay arrived in USA almost eight years ago, its popularity has continued to grow. In almost all establishments you can pay with it if they have a contactless card machine. It can even be used to make online purchases in some stores. However, essential elements were missing and Madrid already confirms card payments for its bus network.
The project has been long-awaited and it was at the beginning of July that the Department of Transport of the Community of Madrid confirmed that it would arrive in 2025. This week, it was the president of the region herself who confirmed it. AND we will have to wait a little longer.
June 2025, Apple Pay on all Madrid buses
Isabel Díaz Ayuso, president of the community, confirmed this week the issue of buses and card payments. She did so in the context of the debate on the state of the region, in the Assembly of Madrid. Ayuso says that the project is already underway and should be completed in June 2025. All buses support card payments. All those in the region, of course.
Here they come urban city buses, as well as intercity buses. All must have support for payment by bank card, including the possibility of using contactless cards and therefore Apple Pay or any other mobile payment system.
News that comes at an interesting time regarding the iPhone’s NFC chip. This is the sensor that allows these payments to be made and, largely required by European legislation, it will have to be open to third parties, thus allowing other alternatives to Apple Pay to emerge on iOS.
Of course, at the moment no company or platform has announced its intention to arrive as an alternative payment method on iPhones. In any case, since it works contactless thanks to NFC, any of them will be used to make payments on Madrid buses and other establishments.
In this way, we already know that next summer the requirement to have cash when buying a ticket on the region’s buses will be eliminated. Something else seems that we will have to wait for that long-awaited project of a digital metro ticket on iPhone that does not even require paying for the journeys manually.
By | TeleMadrid
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