PRESTO in Apple Wallet launches today

Customers have more choice to pay their fare across the region.

July 16 - Metrolinx and Apple are making it easier to take transit.

Starting today, you can add a PRESTO card to Apple Wallet and tap to ride using your iPhone or Apple Watch. This new feature brings even more ways to pay your fare across the region.

This is the first time in Canada that a transit card is available in Apple Wallet, changing the game for customers, whether they’re regular riders or just visiting.

A digital version of a PRESTO card can be added to Apple Wallet for no additional charge and can be used to pay fares on GO Transit, UP Express, Brampton Transit, Burlington Transit, Durham Region Transit, Hamilton Street Railway, MiWay (in Mississauga), Oakville Transit, TTC and York Region Transit.

“We are excited to bring customers another way to pay their fare with the addition of a PRESTO card on iPhone and Apple Watch,” says Barclay Hancock, Metrolinx Chief Payments Officer.

“This is yet another way PRESTO is continuously evolving and innovating to meet the needs of customers and make it easier for them to choose transit first.”

Making things more convenient

Customers – whether they’re residents or visitors – can instantly purchase and add funds to a PRESTO card in Apple Wallet from the PRESTO app or directly in Apple Wallet. They can also purchase transit passes via the PRESTO app and add them to PRESTO in Apple Wallet, without needing to visit an in-person location.

PRESTO in Apple Wallet supports youth, post-secondary student, adult, and senior fare types.

Customers with Express Mode enabled can simply hold their iPhone near a reader to ride transit using their PRESTO card in Apple Wallet — without the need to unlock or even wake their device. With power reserve on iPhone, if a customer’s device needs to be charged, they can still use it to ride transit.

For information about how to add and use PRESTO in Apple Wallet, visit: prestocard.ca/applewallet

Data privacy

PRESTO in Apple Wallet takes full advantage of the privacy and security built into iPhone and Apple Watch. PRESTO cards stored in Wallet are private and secure, and Apple never tracks users’ journeys. When customers add a PRESTO card to Wallet, the card information is encrypted and securely stored in the Secure Element, an industry-standard, certified chip designed to store the information safely on the device. If a user’s iPhone or Apple Watch is misplaced, the owner of the device can promptly use the Find My app to lock and help locate the device.

Improving transit across the region

The introduction of PRESTO cards in Apple Wallet builds on Metrolinx’s work to provide customers with new ways to pay their fare.

Along with the new option to tap with PRESTO in Apple Wallet, customers can tap their credit or debit cards (physical or digital), other available digital PRESTO cards options, or their classic PRESTO cards to pay their fare. 

“Taken together, this menu of new payment options marks a shift in PRESTO from a transit card to a passport for the region,” said Hancock. 

Not only is it easier to travel across the region, but it’s also more affordable.

PRESTO is the engine of Ontario’s One Fare Program, which provides free transfers to riders connecting to and from GO Transit and local transit agencies in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area.  

For accredited journalists, you can contact our media team at mediarelations@metrolinx.com.

For customers, please visit Metrolinx – Contact Us to contact the customer service team.