Comment by asdfsa32
14 hours ago
I won't be surprised. In Australia, no public transport system accepts the national payment system (EFTPOS) and instead it is either a public transport specific card or one of the 3 American rails. In NSW, there was promise of a second phase to support EFTPOS but that is hasn't happened yet.
The American Empire is alive and well.
From the Wikipedia article it sounds like these typically require PIN entry which is something that would make them less suitable to public transport applications. Normal credit cards and mobile wallets all have modes of operation that directly target the public transit use case and if EFTPOS does not then it may be excluded on that basis without imperialistic US interference.
In NSW you can tap your Opal reader with your card.
A card that is using Mastercard, Visa, or American Express; no EFTPOS support.
Indeed. https://developer.mastercard.com/success-stories/transport-f...
Cards are so backward in 2026. To carry them should by itself make one shudder.
In 2026 "backward" is a dysphemism for "reliable".
Not sure what's making you shudder about carrying a payment instrument that doesn't need its batteries charged, doesn't need to run firmware or an OS, doesn't need a network connection independent of the payment terminal, and isn't simultaneously a surveillance device, but whatever floats your boat, I guess.
Putting your card in, say, Apple Pay is equivalent. How do you think Apple Pay works? It’s tap-to-pay, equivalent to your credit card. That’s why you can use Apple Pay wherever you use tap-to-pay on your card. That’s why Apple Pay doesn’t work at Walmart and merchants need to do no work to support Apple Pay.
In the US you really have no options. It’s card, or card, or maybe even card. There’s Zelle, which is irreversible. PayPal and friends, which charge a fee, so no. And crypto, which is used for drugs.
Of course, anyone not giving either Google, Apple or Samsung direct access to their finances is soooo backwards.