Attention Sydney: Your phone can now replace your Opal card

On Monday Transport NSW completed its roll-out of contactless payment support for the Opal smart card travelling system. That means that you can now use your phone or credit card to tap on and off Opal enabled trains, buses and ferries as well as the light rail and metro system.

To use your phone as your Opal card you'll need a bank or credit card provider that supports Google Pay, Apple Pay or Samsung Pay and a smartphone with NFC (near-field communication). Nearly all flagship and most mid-range smartphones these days come with NFC built in.

Once you've checked you have the necessary hardware and banking support, you'll need to setup Google Pay, Apple Pay or Samsung Pay with at least one credit or debit card. You'll then be able to tap on and off as you would with your Opal card.

If you don't want to use your phone, you can also use a Visa, Mastercard or AMEX.

Transport NSW says that commuters using digital wallets or contactless payments will receive the same travel benefits as that of an adult Opal card user, including:

• Daily, weekly and Sunday travel fare caps
• Weekly travel rewards (half price after eight trips)
• The Opal transfer discount ($2 off for changing modes of transport as part of selected journeys)
• Off-peak pricing for train travel

However, it's important to note that you will only receive these benefits if you use the same credit or debit card tapping on and off for all your journeys over the relevant period of time. That means if you use your Mastercard for journeys on Monday and Tuesday, and your Visa debit card for journeys on Wednesday and Thursday, you won't get your weekly travel reward on Friday and the weekend.

This is true whether you are using your credit card directly to tap on and off, or using your card through your phone with Google Pay, Apple Pay or Samsung Pay.

If you're using your phone as your Opal card, it's also important to make sure it has enough charge to last the journey. If your phone goes flat while you're travelling, as well as losing the opportunity to tap off, you could be liable for fines if transit officers are conducting ticket checks.

Jacqui Dent

Editorial Strategist

Jacqui Dent is an Editorial Content Strategist at WhistleOut Australia, where she writes about mobile phone plans, NBN plans and everything in between. Over her ten-year career, she has worked to provide informed advice to the public, first in the sphere of writing and now in the world of consumer tech. Jacqui has also written about consumer telco products for Business Insider, Pedestrian and the 50Up Club.

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