The public transport card remains, only the technology behind it is different and that is why you will soon receive a different card.
In the coming months, NS will be testing contactless check-in with a debit card. At the end of this month, NS will start a trial in which travelers can check in and out contactless with their debit card, credit card, telephone or smartwatch. According to the NS, the new way of checking in also works with a digital debit card on telephones and smartphones, such as Apple Pay and Google Pay.
The transport company is not the first carrier to allow check-in with debit cards. This is already possible, for example, in the Arriva buses in Lelystad. The trial is a follow-up to an earlier small-scale trial in which a limited group of train passengers could check in and out with a debit card on the route from Leiden to The Hague. The new trial involves NS routes throughout the country.
"Checking in and out for the train is just as easy and fast as a contactless payment for your groceries. You no longer have to go to a ticket machine to buy a ticket or load balance"
At the stations, all check-in points are equipped with new card readers and images of public transport chip cards and the contactless payment logo. This should make traveling by train easier and more attractive. In the long term, contactless check-in should also be possible with a mobile phone or smartwatch with a digital payment function.
Also bus carrier Qbuzz from now on, travelers in Drenthe and Groningen can also check in and out using their bank card. Customers then no longer have to buy a separate ticket, but can pay for the bus ride via a contactless debit card, credit card or debit card on their mobile phone or smartwatch. This is an initiative of public transport companies, Translink, the public transport authorities and banks to allow travelers in public transport to check in and out in new ways.
privacy
When a traveler checks in with their debit card, the unique identification number (“PAN”) of the debit or credit card is pseudonymised, according to the privacy policy. Each debit card or credit card receives its own unique token. According to the privacy declaration the pseudonymised data cannot be traced back to the debit or credit card details of the traveler without additional information.
delayed
The test will take place later than expected. Originally, everyone should be able to check in with a debit card this summer, but last week it was announced that the introduction had been delayed for at least six months. Ultimately, the system should be implemented throughout public transport. After the trial, NS wants to make the new way of travel possible for all train passengers. Renting a public transport bicycle or access to a P+R site is not yet possible with the debit card.
